You guys seem convinced foldables will never take over, but I disagree (a bit)

I believe in foldables and I think the only thing that stops many of us from ditching our slab handsets is the price.

Yes, foldables are expensive. But, hopefully, that won't be the case forever and ever.

The votes are in

Some days ago, I discussed what foldables the richest people in the world use. Jensen Huang, the Nvidia boss, was spotted not so long ago rocking the brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 8. He used it to receive a call from the US President Donald Trump at a live event, when he and other prominent tech figures were discussing AI.

I asked you, "Do you think foldables will ever outsell "normal" smartphones?"

And these are the results I got from my little poll:

• Yes, within two or three years. – 12.79%
• Yes, within five or six years. – 13.58%
• Yes, within a decade. – 13.05%
• Yes, within more than a decade. – 7.31%
• Probably not. – 36.81%
• Not even close. – 16.45%

This is a very intriguing result. It turns out that 53% of you don't think foldables will become the new normal in the mobile world.

The optimists

Still, the results aren't entirely gloomy for foldables. More than 46% of respondents believe foldables will eventually outsell traditional smartphones, with roughly 39% expecting that shift to happen within a decade.

That's a pretty substantial chunk of readers who see foldables becoming mainstream at some point, even if most don't think the change is coming anytime soon. To me, that suggests the idea itself isn't the problem; the bigger question is whether prices can eventually come down enough to make foldables an easy choice for more people.

Money, money, money

Foldables are still expensive, and that price gets harder to justify when you look at the hardware you're getting for the money. With a few exotic exceptions from brands that aren't widely available globally, most foldables don't quite match their slab counterparts in areas like cameras, where conventional flagships often have larger sensors and more versatile zoom systems.

You're paying for the folding mechanism, two displays, a more complicated chassis and all the engineering needed to make the thing bend without falling apart. That said, foldables aren't exactly underpowered toys: the latest models pack some serious chipsets and excellent displays, so there's plenty of flagship hardware here (just not necessarily across the board).

We're headed in the fold direction

OK, OK: the majority of the world's population will probably continue using slab phones for a very long time. They're cheaper, simpler, more durable and, for most people, they already do everything a smartphone needs to do. But us phone aficionados are a different bunch, right?

I suspect many of us will eventually make the jump once foldables become genuinely comparable to slab flagships and their prices come down substantially. After all, who would have looked at a phone in 2001 and predicted that we'd one day happily spend $1,300 or more on a Galaxy S Ultra or iPhone Pro Max? Yet here we are.

More foldables for you:

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 destroys the iPhone Duo in our latest survey
• iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo will be a massive success, and I’m not surprised at all
• Verizon is selling a bunch of new Motorola foldables (and the Moto Watch Ultra) all of a sudden

Galaxy Z Fold 8: save up to $800

$1299 ⁹⁹

$2099 ⁹⁹

$800 off (38%)

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung's first-ever passport-style device, offering a unique approach to the foldable experience. Right now, you can get the device with a maximum trade-in discount of up to $800. Alternatively, you can get it with a $250 Samsung Instant Savings, no trade-in required.

Buy at Samsung