Samsung officially unveiled the product at its first Unpacked event in Seoul, South Korea, this evening (July 7).Galaxy z fold5,Galaxy z flip5,as well asGalaxy Watch 6 seriesAndGalaxy Tab S9 seriesCompared to the first Galaxy Fold launched in 2019, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold5 launched this year still maintains the same form design. Even the Galaxy Z Flip5 continues the form design of the Galaxy Z Flip launched in 2020. It is obvious that it hopes to continue to layout the foldable screen mobile phone market with these two forms of design.
The foldable phone design, which maintains the same form for the fifth year, has been accepted by most people.
Although the appearance, structural details, and specifications have been continuously adjusted, the Galaxy Fold to Galaxy Z Fold 5 basically maintain the horizontal folding design like a book, while the Galaxy Z Flip to Galaxy Z Flip 5 always adopt the vertical folding usage mode.
However, compared to Chinese competitors who experimented with creating various types of foldable screen phones from the outset, including single-screen foldable designs and attempts to offer different user experiences through stretchable and rollable designs, the commercially available foldable screen phones from brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Honor ultimately ended up with designs similar to Samsung's current offerings, considering actual user experience and production yields.
Even Google's first Pixel-branded foldable phone, the Pixel Fold, launched this year, uses the same structural design as the Galaxy Fold, demonstrating that Samsung's foldable phone design is acceptable to most people.
Preparing for a new phone launch next year? This year's phone update is more like a "transitional product."
Other mobile phone manufacturers have proposed different forms of foldable screen mobile phone designs. Samsung has also proposedMany concept phones have foldable screens, including the Flex S design, which can be folded into an "S" shape, and the Flex G design, which can be folded in different directions. It even includes a prototype design called Flex Slidable/Rollable Phone, which allows the phone to expand the usable screen area by stretching it sideways.
The reason why the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5, two foldable phones launched this year, still use previous designs may actually be related to Samsung's conservative attitude towards mobile phone product design this year. This includes canceling the Exynos flagship processor originally scheduled to be updated this year and adopting all Qualcomm flagship processors. In addition, the overall demand for replacement of high-end flagship mobile phone products this year is not high. Therefore, the updated products are obviously more like "transitional products" in preparation for the launch of new phones next year.
This year's update focuses on a more robust hinge design, but I hope the warranty recognition method can also be upgraded.
But Samsung is not just making routine upgrades in specifications. The two foldable screen phones launched this time use a newly designed Flex dual-track hinge design, and when the screen is folded, it folds in a teardrop shape, thereby reducing the force on the flexible display panel when the screen is folded. At the same time, the dual-track hinge and additional damping design also prevent the phone screen from being subjected to too much pressure when flattened, thereby correcting the problem of damage to the foldable screen due to long-term use.
Regarding screen durability, Samsung emphasizes that the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5's screens are rated to withstand 20 folds and folds. Based on 100 folds per day, this translates to approximately five years of normal use. This differs from other brands, which often claim up to 5 folds. Samsung explains that this is primarily due to design differences within its testing facilities. However, Samsung emphasizes that all products are designed to offer a certain degree of durability, and will provide a warranty to ensure user safety.
However, judging by the consumer market response in recent years, Samsung's approach to determining whether a foldable-screen phone is a natural failure or man-made damage seems to vary across different countries and regions. Even though Samsung has always hoped to provide a better user experience with its products, there are still many differences in subsequent customer service procedures, which may be something Samsung must adjust next.
After using the foldable screen phone design for the fifth year and laying the foundation for the development of the foldable screen phone market, Samsung should next prepare to launch a completely new foldable screen phone design to widen the gap with other competing brands.
Mobile phones with foldable screens will become the mainstream in the market
依照市場調查機構Counterpoint Research統計數據顯示，螢幕可凹折手機從2019年至2022年間的全球市場出貨量成長幅度達20倍，從最早的60萬支增加至1300萬支，甚至在2023年第一季的出貨量比起2022年同期成長64%，預計在2027年的出貨量更可達1億支以上，並且將搶下價格在600美元以上的高階手機市佔的38%左右。
TrendForce predicts that shipments of foldable phones will reach 1980 million units this year, and Canalys predicts that annual shipments of foldable phones will reach 2024 million units in 3000, indicating that foldable phones will become the mainstream design form in the future. Therefore, it can be speculated that Samsung will use a new form of foldable phone with a self-designed processor to provide a better user experience.
Samsung's internal statistics indicate that sales of its Galaxy Z series foldable phones reached 2022 million units in 1000, with the Galaxy Z Flip series, after its successful price adjustment, accounting for 64% of total sales, and the Galaxy Z Fold series accounting for 36%. The Galaxy Z Flip4, launched last year, has approximately 70% female users, with approximately 40% switching from competing products. The Galaxy Z Fold4 has approximately 70% male users, with approximately 30% switching from competing products.
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