Cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE in question as Samsung can't beat Chinese foldables
Samsung may be icing its plans to release an affordable Fan Edition model of the venerable Galaxy Z Fold line. The launch of the tentatively named Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE has reportedly that was slated to join Samsung's 2024 foldable phones crop, has reportedly been rescheduled, and it is not clear if it will happen at all.
Instead, Samsung will be focusing on polishing the Fold 6 and Flip 6 experience and apply the cost savings and lessons learned during the development of the Fold 6 FE to them.
The reason? Chinese foldable phones. Apparently, Samsung was gunning for a thinner and more affordable Z Fold 6 FE, but couldn't deliver on either count, especially when compared with bendy phones from Oppo, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Huawei, Vivo, and the like.
When Samsung designed the affordable Fold FE, it eschewed some of the features available in the Z Fold 6 to achieve both lower production costs, and a thinner body. It planned to ship the Fold 6 FE without an S Pen stylus, for instance, hence skip the digitizer layer and make the phone thinner.
Unfortunately, Samsung didn't manage to add enough value to differentiate its foldable FE line from the competition. First off, most Chinese makers have managed to craft foldable phones that are thinner.
Samsung decided to set the Z Fold 6 FE apart by making it tougher and more durable, but when it added the needed water-resistance and ingress protection designs, the phone became thicker than it would've liked.
The only bright spot for Samsung in China are actually its foldable phones that command double-digit market share there, but the Z Fold 6 FE wouldn't stand to the Chinese competition.
As a result, Samsung is reportedly reconsidering its Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE launch plans for the year, and may postpone the phone indefinitely. It also planned to release an even cheaper version of the Flip line, with a Z Flip 7 FE of sorts in 2025, but it remains to be seen if that one has also been scrapped or not.
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