We exclusively reported a few days back that Samsung will be holding its next Galaxy Unpacked event in late July instead of August, suggesting Samsung wants to bring its new foldables (and tablets and smartwatches) to market earlier than usual.
There have also been other rumors that have indicated that Samsung wants to rush the new foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, to market. The foldables will also be getting a major marketing push in the second half of the year, as confirmed by Samsung itself in its earnings report (which also brought the bad news that Samsung's profits have tanked hard).
Samsung wants to push foldables hard in 2023
Well, the latest tidbit from the rumor mill supports both the early launch possibility and the fact that Samsung is doubling down on its efforts to sell more foldable smartphones. According to analyst Ross Young, “production estimates for the Z Flip 5 for July 2023 are about double that of the Z Flip 4 in 2022.”
Note that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 isn't mentioned here, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. The Galaxy Z Flip line is more affordable and stylish and sells in more quantities than the Galaxy Z Fold lineup as a result, so it's only natural for Samsung to focus on producing more Galaxy Z Flips than Galaxy Z Folds.
As for the early launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung is likely doing it so it can stop other foldable phone makers — including Google, which will enter the foldable market with the Pixel Fold this year — from stealing the spotlight. An early launch also distances the foldables from Apple's next iPhone, which is always a good thing whether Samsung is launching a traditional candybar phone or a foldable.
In addition to bringing its new flagships to market ahead of the usual schedule, Samsung is reportedly thinking of holding the next Unpacked event in its home country to promote the country's bid for World Expo 2023. However, Samsung has yet to finalize the event location so it's still possible that the company will hold the event in the USA as it has done in the past.
