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Samsung should grow up and stop with the small-scale experiments already!

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Jan 13, 2025, 9:16 AM

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The world's top smartphone vendor is almost certainly preparing to release its first tri-fold device... at some point in the relatively near future. That's great news, right? After all, foldables are the future (and to a degree, the present), and there are very few things that personally make me more excited than seeing a mobile industry heavyweight truly innovate with a groundbreaking new design only attempted by one or two other brands.

Even more intriguingly, Samsung's rookie effort in this sub-sub-category is widely expected to look different from the pioneering Huawei Mate XT, adopting a so-called "G Type" design rather than an S-shaped form factor and thus quite possibly aiming to blaze a trail of its own... unless, of course, someone beats the market leader to the punch.

But here's what I don't understand:

What is Samsung looking to accomplish here?

For those of you unfamiliar with the aforementioned Huawei Mate XT, the concept is pretty simple... albeit also decidedly eccentric and experimental. Instead of folding in half, like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and so many other book-style gadgets released by so many different brands over the last few years, this bad boy folds twice, splitting the massive 10.2-inch display in three rather than just two parts.

While far from what we'd call a perfected product with a truly usable and reliable design, the Mate XT employs two hinges with distinct folding mechanisms. At least in theory, I'm sure that you can imagine finding something to do on 6.4 inches of screen real estate when the device is folded and on 7.9 inches when it's partially unfolded in addition to when you might need to take advantage of that glorious full 10.2-inch size.

The Huawei Mate XT is a highly promising but not very mainstream device.

Samsung, on the other hand, is reportedly planning to use the same folding method for both hinges, which would create a nice and natural protection for a huge rumored 12.4-inch panel while negatively impacting the product's versatility in a major way. If the first-ever tri-fold Galaxy is indeed an entirely in-folding affair as all recent rumors suggest instead of folding once inward and once outward, can you imagine any realistic use case for it in its partially unfolded form? I can't either.

And that, my dear friends and readers, may well be one of the key reasons why this "groundbreaking" device will only be produced in "less than 300,000" copies. How low is that number? Extremely. To put it in perspective, Samsung is projected to manufacture 16 million Galaxy S25 Ultra units after selling an estimated 15.8 million S24 Ultras and more than 12 million "vanilla" S24s as of November 2024.

The time for limited-scale experiments should be behind Samsung by now

Am I saying that Samsung should be gunning for Galaxy S24 or S25 series production numbers here? Absolutely not. I totally understand this is a very tricky and very costly device to make, which is part of the reason why I don't think it should happen. Not now, at least, and probably not in 2026 either.

Am I saying that Samsung should avoid any and all design gambles? Also absolutely not, especially in the foldable market. But the company has to move on from a strategy based on the old "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" theory, and boldly embrace its true trendsetter position.

Samsung needs to focus more on improving the Z Fold 6 in noticeable ways than trying out new devices very few people will buy. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena

Basically, I'm saying that Samsung should go big or go... back to the drawing board. Enough regional Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition experiments, half-baked Galaxy Z Flip upgrades, and as other rumors have it, budget-friendly Z Flip FE releases with only slightly higher production targets than this tri-fold test run of sorts!

If and only if Samsung truly thinks that tri-fold devices are the future and when and only when they can be manufactured in the millions should they actually see daylight. Until then, the Korea-based tech giant would be much wiser to start treating all (major) markets equally instead of giving its homeland and China preferential treatment and focus on making the global Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 "special."

This all goes for the Galaxy S25 Slim as well, which should roll out in a much bigger number than the recently reported 3 million too... or not roll out at all. Now that's the kind of risk I want Samsung to take and prove it can turn everything it releases in gold (for the masses) rather than timidly testing the waters like an industry noob.

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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'.