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How quickly can an inherently flawed mobile technology mature in this day and age? Judging from the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G, which looks absolutely stunning and almost surprisingly refined despite its predecessor's highly publicized manufacturing defects, the answer can be as quickly as one year.
Of course, it's far too early to know how Samsung's second-gen foldable flagship will hold up in long-term real-world usage, and until Corning rolls out a Gorilla Glass generation capable of bending, it's certainly wise to expect a higher degree of frailty from these bad boys when compared to conventional smartphones.
But it's pretty clear that the company will take a big leap towards making foldable devices mainstream this holiday season, and it's definitely not surprising to hear that Samsung has set rather lofty sales goals for the extravagant Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G.
800,000 units will be produced this year alone
Granted, production and shipment numbers are not the same thing, but if the Korea-based tech giant does plan to manufacture "up to" 800,000 Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G copies by the end of 2020, the early buzz and incredible excitement around the handset strongly suggest every single one of those devices will be sold.
If that doesn't sound like such a remarkable figure, you're probably not looking at it from the right angle. Compared to the 8.5 million unit sales tipped for the Galaxy Note 20 duo, the number is indeed not very impressive, but the same forecast from almost a month ago called for only 500,000 Z Fold 2 shipments in 2020.
In case you're wondering, the first-gen Galaxy Fold sold around 400,000 copies between its belated September 2019 commercial debut and the end of the year, so Samsung is essentially gearing up to boost that score by 100 percent.
At $2,000 a pop, that's a lot of revenue for a company struggling with declining volumes worldwide, and according to inside sources, the chaebol has finally managed to stabilize the phone's yield rate at factories in not one and not two but three different countries, currently focusing on "cutting costs for foldable smartphone production" to further increase its profit margins.
This is still the beginning of something much bigger
When put into the right context, 800,000 is arguably a pretty solid number. But it's still nothing compared to the true potential of the foldable market segment. While this is unlikely to be fulfilled anytime soon, Samsung might be able to jump to no less than 8 million unit sales in total as early as 2021 thanks to a "diversified foldable product lineup."
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Said expanded lineup could include everything from a further upgraded and refined Galaxy Z Fold 3 to an inexpensive Z Fold Lite, a largely mysterious Z Fold S with both inward and outward-folding capabilities, and of course, the Galaxy Z Flip family.
That's right, Samsung is predicted to close the year with 3 million foldable shipments overall, yielding a massive profit at a time of great uncertainty for the mobile industry as a whole and big struggles for high-end smartphones in particular. That's what happens when you don't throw in the towel after one failed attempt at a revolution.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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