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Samsung single-handedly created the foldable phone category with the launch of the original Galaxy Z Fold in 2020, so, Victor, how in the world can you blame it for "killing foldable phones"?!
Of course, this question makes perfect sense, but let me give you an analogy: when you plant a plant, and you don't look after it, chances are it won't survive for long. Plants need water and plants need care to survive.
That is exactly what I think happened with the Galaxy Z Fold. Samsung planted the world's prettiest flower, but then stopped looking after it, until it withered. It almost killed that flower.
Enough with the analogies, let's talk real world devices.
The problem
This tiny Cover screen on the Fold 6 (on the left) is the problem (Galaxy S24 Ultra is on the right for comparison)
The problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 was evident from the first few generations, and I'm not the only one to notice it: the device is great when unfolded to the big screen, but the majority of time when you need to look at something on the go, you want to do it on the smaller outer/cover screen. And that cover screen was and still is just too narrow and using it is a pain.
Rather than listen to this very logical criticism, however, and making the required changes to its "plant" Samsung stubbornly sticks with almost the same form factor it had in the beginning.
No wonder the Galaxy Fold series isn't meeting sales expectations!
Some surveys show that people are using the device folded 70% of the time, and that experience is severely compromised by a weird cover screen.
The complex business of foldable phones
Okay, but how can this mistake "kill" foldable phones?
Honestly, I wouldn't have cared much about this if we were talking about a regular phone. Heck, Sony has been making the same mistake for years with the Xperia series. Weird 21:9 aspect ratio, inflated price, and the poor sales are not a surprise. No one else got hurt in the process.
But it's different for foldable phones.
The problem is folding phones are still a "baby" category. They cost close to $2,000. They are expensive to purchase, expensive to manufacture, and building them is a risk for any company.
We were all expecting to see exponential growth in foldables, but in the last few years, growth has slowed down and sales are improving very slowly.
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In this climate of limited demand, there is a real risk to making a foldable phone for any company and if customers only know the compromised form factor of the dominant player Samsung, they may get disappointed in the category as a whole.
Thank god for competition
Honor Magic V3 on the left vs Galaxy Fold 4 on the right (Image by PhoneArena)
I myself was close to completely writing off foldables as something that I just don't need in my life. I have used every single Galaxy Fold since the original and I have quickly gone back to a regular phone after just a couple of weeks, relieved.
And if we only had Samsung and no other competition, it might have just all remained the same.
But thank god for competition. A robust and very competitive Chinese market has seen brands like Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, Vivo and Oppo compete fiercely and push each other to greatness. This is what led to the current generation of foldable excellence:
Honor Magic V3 – 9.3mm thickness when folded, a whopping 4.4mm thick when open, weight of just 230g
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro – probably the best camera on a foldable, a sturdy hinge and an angled design that makes it easier to open
OnePlus Open – innovative Canvas interface for multitasking that is just great
And finally, the crazy new Huawei Mate XT, a tri-fold phone that unfolds into a super slim 10-inch tablet!
Compared to these sleek new devices, Samsung's Galaxy Fold 6 looks... dated.
I have to credit it for some technical advancements, though: in my opinion, Samsung has the most sturdy hinge on the market right now, and the overall commitment from Samsung allows cheaper screen repairs in case something breaks. The device also has some limited water protection and is even protected from some particles (but not fine particles like dust).
However, Samsung just cannot keep going with this.
Sure, it still has practically no competition in the West where phones from Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi and Vivo are simply not available, but there are newcomers like the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Fold that are ready to eat its lunch.
Samsung better start caring about its baby and watering its plant. It did not kill the whole foldable phone market, but it might just have slowed it down and risked its own success.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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