Samsung knows a thing or two about making smartphones. The company has been doing it for a very long time. It may not have been the first to start making Android-powered smartphones but it has since become the manufacturer that defines what an Android smartphone can be. From old school flip phones to sliders, modern candybar style to foldables, Samsung has done it all and then some.
The company is singlehandedly responsible for advancing many of the trends that have shaped how smartphones have evolved over the years. At a time when smartphone manufacturers thought customers wouldn't prefer phones with large screens, Samsung pushed ahead with its strategy and made us all realize what we were missing out on. It even ended up making Apple shift to larger displays, a change that the company was quite apprehensive to embrace initially.
Once again, it was Samsung that shook up the smartphone market in 2019 with the launch of the original Galaxy Fold. It felt that nobody was innovating anymore. Year after year we were getting the same candybar-style phones that didn't look or feel all that different from each other. That held true for almost all Android phones. Even the iPhones didn't look all that different from earlier iterations. With Apple expected to adopt hole punch cameras for its smartphones, it's only a matter of time before iPhones also start to look like Android flagships.
Samsung opened our eyes to a new form factor, one that up until that point had only seemed like the stuff of science fiction movies. The company capitalized on the first-mover advantage that the Galaxy Fold gave it. Samsung followed it up with the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 the next year. The incredible Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 came last year and ended up selling more units than even Samsung had anticipated.
The company has more than just proven a point with its foldables smartphones over the past three years. It has shown that this form factor isn't just a novelty and that there's incredible potential to be unlocked. These devices have improved significantly with every iteration so much so that we already have water-resistant foldable smartphones. No other manufacturer can even match what Samsung has done in this segment so far.
This gives us confidence in Samsung's abilities to push the envelope further. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are due next month. These devices will be an exercise in refinement. Samsung will make minor but meaningful improvements that make its foldable more durable and more capable. We can once again expect it to sell a lot of units.
What comes next, though? Some Samsung fans who've supported the company through the foldable journey now want to see the next big thing. For them, the foldables are just another part of Samsung's lineup. They now want to see something completely different to get excited about smartphones again. Samsung's already been dropping hints about what it might have in store for them.
Samsung's display-making affiliate, Samsung Display, has already showcased some of the futuristic display technologies that it's working on, such as a rollable display that's going to bring us a new kind of sliding phone. There's a reasonable expectation that we might see Samsung unveil such a device at some point next year.
That's going to be a new frontier for Samsung to conquer. If its track record with foldables is any indication, the company is going to nail it. Adding yet another form factor to its mix will enable Samsung to stand out from the competition. This relentless pursuit of innovation that it has been on, Samsung needs to keep doing just that in order to absolutely crush its rivals.
These advancements will eventually find their way to other manufacturers. Samsung Display sells its advanced displays to companies other than Samsung after all. The sale of such components is a major cash cow for the Samsung conglomerate. At least the synergy in the business provides Samsung Electronics with a decent head start to cement its position as the company that's the first to make bold moves that no other manufacturer can.
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