Samsung has had the upper hand in the foldable smartphone market since 2019. While it absolutely ruled the foldable smartphone market for the first few years since the launch of the Galaxy Fold, Chinese brands have now started making inroads in the segment. In fact, some believe that the Galaxy Z lineup is not the best in the segment anymore, and the Honor Magic V2 and the OnePlus Open are the better phones.
To remedy this situation, Samsung is trying to find a couple of solutions, and one of them involves launching a cheaper version of the Galaxy Z Fold device.
Will we see a Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE this year?
There have been reports over the years about Samsung launching cheaper versions of the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold. However, most of them turned out to be inaccurate. A new report from TheElec now claims that Samsung is seriously considering launching a cheaper version in the Galaxy Z Fold 6 lineup later this year. Apparently, the goal is to increase shipments by bringing foldable phones at a more accessible price point. However, the company is confused about whether to go forward with its plan as the smartphone market conditions are still not very strong, and if the demand falls as it did in 2022 and 2023, it could hurt the profitability of Samsung's foldable phones.
Watch our Galaxy Z Fold 5 review in the video below.
If Samsung goes through with its plan, there will reportedly be three phones in the Galaxy Z lineup this year: the Galaxy Z Flip 6, the cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 6 variant, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6. It isn't clear what will be the name of the cheaper version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but looking at Samsung's recent record, it could be named the Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE.
Galaxy Z Fold 6 is reportedly quite thinner than Galaxy Z Fold 5
The report also claims that Samsung has reduced the thickness of the regular Galaxy Z Fold 6 after looking at the foldable phones released by Honor and Huawei. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is reportedly quite thin compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 5. It could entice a lot of buyers, but how big a battery the company could fit inside that thin chassis remains to be seen.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6, on the other hand, is reportedly an iterative upgrade compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 5. So, it might not sell as much as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 did, and Samsung would need a cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 6 to improve the shipments of the 2024 foldable smartphone lineup. However, if the situation in the smartphone market remains grim like it is now, Samsung might not launch the Galaxy Z Fold 6 FE so as not to hamper the sales of the higher-priced Galaxy Z Fold 6.
