Don't expect Samsung to lower the prices of its foldable phones until it has refined the devices
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Let's face it, Samsung's foldable phones are not cheap. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 starts at $1,799.99 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is priced at $999.99 and up. Normally, as component prices drop, manufacturers have a little leeway to bring down prices. But this doesn't seem to be an option, at least not for the foreseeable future. Samsung's Vice President of Mobile Product Marketing, Drew Blackard, was asked if more wallet-friendly versions of the foldables are being planned.
Considering that Sammy wants foldables to make up half of its product mix in just two short, sweet years, something needs to be done to attract those who are on the sidelines, would love to pick up a Galaxy Z Fold or Galaxy Z Flip, but are unable to be anything more than wallflowers because of the price. Tom's Guide editor Kate Kozuck more specifically asked Blackard if a Galaxy Z Fold or Galaxy Z Flip Fan Edition (FE) is in the cards similar to the Galaxy S23 FE rumored to be introduced very soon.
Blackard said that foldables will eventually drop in price. But he said that Samsung had to improve the Galaxy Z Fold 5 by making it thinner and lighter and hike the size of the Galaxy Z Flip 5's external display to 3.4 inches. In other words, Blackard said that the focus right now is on refining the user experience on those two models. He did say, "Over time, as the technology evolves, we'll continue to see innovation and hopefully bring it down in price point at a future time."
Samsung won't consider lower-priced versions of its foldable phones until it has made all the refinements it needs to
If price isn't a factor for you, the answer that Blackard gives about refining the foldables before cutting their prices will sound like a solid response. When asked to confirm that Samsung plans refinements first before dropping the prices of its foldables, he said, "Absolutely, because the first thing’s first, we need to make sure that it's an incredible experience. We want to continue to refine it so that it becomes mainstream in terms of all the use cases that you're doing and, and really the premium aspects of the product. As those get perfected, then we can kind of start thinking about how we broaden out the portfolio."
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Blackard said that Samsung "welcomed" the competition from Motorola's premium Razr+ and the Galaxy Fold. He told Tom's Guide, "Samsung created the foldable category and as new competitors enter, it really just validates that this is a form factor that there's a lot of interest in. We announced last year, we've sold over a million foldables globally, and we think that the more awareness comes to the category, it really puts us in a great position to continue leadership of the category."
So besides hacking away at the price tags, how can Samsung get more consumers over to the foldable side? Blackard said that it made the Fold 5 lighter in an attempt to appease potential buyers who asked Samsung for a lighter foldable device. The executive said that durability was another area where it can make consumers feel more comfortable with a foldable device.
Blackard said, "We know that many consumers are now aware of foldables, but they might not have touched and used one for the first time. We want to give peace of mind that someone who is going from a solid piece of glass to a flexible display has nothing to worry about."
We've seen other foldable-type devices such as rollables and Samsung has been linked to such a device. But don't expect to see a Samsung Galaxy Z Rollable anytime soon. Blackard points out that "Samsung at its core is an innovative company and we do incredible work with displays, so we're always looking just form factor wise where things go. I think for the time being, we think we've got a really good breadth of products that attracts a different range of use cases and different users. But we're really excited to see where foldable technology goes in general."
As are we and we're sure, many of you.
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