During its semiannual Unpacked event that took place on Aug.10, Samsung unveiled its August new phones: the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The company has kept prices at the same level as last year in an effort to consolidate its leadership in an expanding market for this type of phone.
The smartphone manufacturer has set the price of the phone (Galaxy Z Flip 4) at $999.99, while the price of the phone (Galaxy ZFold 4) equipped with fifth-generation technology and a 7.6-inch main screen starts at $1,799.99 in the United States, which are the same prices as last year’s models when they were released.
The new phones are expected to work with the Android operating system 12, and the Adreno 730 graphics processor, with the eighth generation Snapdragon processor with a standard 4 nm. In addition, the devices will feature three memory options, the largest of which comes with 512 GB with 8 GB RAM, the second with 256 GB with 8 GB RAM, and the third comes with 128 GB memory and 8 GB RAM.
According to market research firm Counter Point, the number of foldable smartphones in the world will surge to 16 million this year, accounting for only 1.2 percent of the total expected 1.36 billion smartphones. This figure also represents an increase in the global number of foldable phones from 9 million last year.
Although the smartphone market is expected to shrink this year due to lower consumer spending, analysts believe that foldable phones will fare better, with more users becoming interested in their high-end features and large screens.
Samsung held 62 percent of the foldable smartphone market share in the first half of 2022, followed by Huawei (16 percent) and Oppo (8 percent). Following the release of the two new phones, Counterpoint predicts that Samsung’s stake in the foldable market will increase to 80 percent in the second half.
Moreover, in the second half, Samsung expects foldable phone sales to outpace those of its previous smartphone, the Galaxy Note.
