TCL's cancelling its foldable Z Flip 3 rival because it couldn't make it cheap enough
TCL has been working on foldable and rollable smartphones for quite some time. But before it's even been released, the company is cancelling its first product. TCL's clamshell phone is no more and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 competitor is not going to be released.
The main reason for the device's cancellation is that TCL wasn't able to keep the price as low as it first intended. On top of that, it also expected the new foldable Samsung devices to cost more. The cheapest TCL could make its foldable smartphone was $800 due to recent component shortages.
"If somebody can spend $800, he can also spend $1,000... Probably, he will go for the brand he knows for many years and trusts more." TCL’s Chief Marketing Officer, Stefan Strait said. TCL also thinks the market is still not ready, especially with the pandemic and chip shortage crisis. The company says the decision to cancel its foldable phone was made before the recent Samsung Unpacked event.
The TCL foldable phone, codenamed Project Chicago, was almost ready for production. The company recently sent CNET a prototype unit that was close to the production version. Strait said the company now won’t launch its first foldable device for at least 12 to 18 months. Another interesting thing Strait revealed is that when TCL launches its first foldable phone it won’t be a revamped version of the Chicago prototype, but a whole new device.
"As one of the world’s largest display and smartphone manufacturers, TCL has spent decades developing products that deliver high-end technologies at affordable price points. In recent years, TCL has invested billions of dollars into the research and development of new and upcoming display technologies, including flexible displays and foldable smartphones.
TCL remains committed to investing in flexible display technologies and is closely monitoring the market to determine the best time to launch a foldable smartphone. In the meantime, we continue to focus on our “5G for All” initiative introduced at Mobile World Congress 2021, in which we work with carriers around the world to deliver 5G solutions to all consumers across a variety of price points and product categories." - Stefan Strait, TCL Chief Marketing Officer
Although the foldable market is growing each year, it is still a premium product category. In combination with recent component shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs in foldable production, TCL has made the difficult decision to suspend the launch of its first commercially available foldable smartphone until the company can produce and bring it to market at a price point that’s accessible to as many consumers as possible.
TCL's Project Chicago foldable was set to feature a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution and an outer 1.1-inch screen. It was powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A 48MP dual-camera system was included too.
The dimensions of the device (164.8 x 78.1 x 7.35mm) were just a tiny bit bigger than those of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 (166 x 72.2 x 6.9 mm). Battery-wise, Project Chicago was going to have a 3,545mAh cell.
The Chicago device wasn’t TCL’s first foldable endeavor. The Chinese company previously showcased prototypes of a triple-folding 10-inch tablet, a foldable screen wrapping around the wrist, and both folding and rollable displays in the same device. TCL still believes folding phones are the future, but the company thinks they are still not ready for the masses.
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