Only this weekend! Samsung Discover deals! Galaxy S24 Ultra, Watch 6, Z Fold 5 or, Z Flip 5.

SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

Notifications
    News for you

    One way Samsung will benefit from being first to enter foldables market

    Opinion
    By 

    Last updated: January 30th, 2020 at 11:01 UTC+01:00

    Samsung's launch of its first commercial foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, was turbulent. The company overlooked an important aspect of the Fold's design and had to delay the device's release for nearly six months. Many believe the design oversight happened because Samsung simply wanted to be first with a foldable device on the market, and they have a point. But being first to market does have its benefits, as the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip will prove.

    If the rumors are to be believed (and at this point, they can be), the Galaxy Z Flip's foldable screen will have an ultra-thin layer of glass on top. The other clamshell foldable phone that's launching this year, the Motorola Razr, won't. Just like Samsung, Motorola is making sure people know that the Razr will have to be handled with care. And while that is going to be general advice for any foldable phone in the first few years, Samsung does have an advantage here.

    Since Samsung has been working on foldable phones for a longer time, the folding screen on its second foldable phone won't be as fragile as the screen on the Galaxy Fold or Motorola's upcoming Razr. The Razr is Motorola's first attempt at a foldable phone, and, as a result, it has exactly the same disadvantage the Fold had last year: The foldable screen, which is made of plastic, has no glass layer on top for protection.

    The Razr is also priced very expensively for its spec sheet, but that's another discussion altogether. The point I'm trying to make is that in early 2020, the foldable phone from Samsung will be more resilient than the one Motorola will sell to its customers. That wouldn't be possible if Samsung hadn't decided to go all in on the foldable segment before anyone else.

    Sure, the company could have decided to hold off on launching a product in the market until it had the ability to put glass on top of a foldable screen, but the same could be said about Motorola. However, that's not how it works. Every new product category has to start somewhere, and the early adopters always have to accept some risks and compromises.

    In the case of the Galaxy Fold and the new Razr phone from Motorola, it's a folding display that you have to be extremely careful with. And, for the next couple of years, those who buy a foldable device will also be paying a pretty high price even though these foldable devices have the same specs as standard non-folding smartphones.

    But thanks to its persistence, Samsung will have solved — to some degree — a major issue of foldable screens before anyone else. And I can't help but feel that's a pretty big advantage. The Razr will probably see a lot more demand as it carries an iconic design, but for anyone looking for a foldable phone with a flip phone form factor, the Galaxy Z Flip's glass-equipped folding display makes it a more sensible option.

    Opinion Galaxy Z Flip

    You might also like

    This is my idea of a cheap Fan Edition Galaxy Z Flip 6

    This is my idea of a cheap Fan Edition Galaxy Z Flip 6

    Rumors about Samsung trying to lower the price barrier for foldable phones are as old as the hills. But nothing's changed so far, and the Galaxy Z Flip series still starts at $999. However, with Huawei threatening to take the lead in global foldable phone shipments this year, Samsung's foldable phone portfolio could soon welcome […]

    • By Mihai Matei
    • 15 hours ago
    Oppo isn’t quitting, will keep competing against Samsung’s foldables

    Oppo isn’t quitting, will keep competing against Samsung’s foldables

    Oppo is one of the handful of companies making foldable phones. Like all of them, it aims to challenge Samsung's dominance of the foldable phone market. The company has launched a few models so far and the reactions have been mixed. A recent rumor, a rather outlandish one at that, claimed that Oppo was giving […]

    • By Adnan Farooqui
    • 4 weeks ago
    Why Oppo ditching foldables could be bad news for Samsung fans

    Why Oppo ditching foldables could be bad news for Samsung fans

    Samsung is the leading manufacturer of foldable phones. Even though there have been a few other companies, mostly Chinese, that have made similar devices the Korean giant remains in a league of its own right now. Its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip lineups are a class apart. The clamshell foldable Galaxy Z Flip series […]

    • By Adnan Farooqui
    • 1 month ago
    Apple’s first foldable iPhone prototypes look like the Galaxy Z Flip

    Apple’s first foldable iPhone prototypes look like the Galaxy Z Flip

    It's been rumored for the longest time that Apple is working on foldable iPhones. What wasn't immediately known was whether they would be clamshell foldables like the Galaxy Z Flip series or similar to the larger Galaxy Z Fold. A new report sheds more light on Apple's elusive foldable iPhones. The report claims that Apple […]

    • By Adnan Farooqui
    • 1 month ago
    Samsung’s making some changes to bring us cheaper foldables

    Samsung’s making some changes to bring us cheaper foldables

    Even as Samsung may not be rushing to launch mid-range foldable phones, the company could benefit from a price cut for its existing models, particularly for the Galaxy Z Fold series that starts at $1,799. If a new report is to be believed, Samsung is making some changes to how one crucial component is manufactured […]

    • By Adnan Farooqui
    • 2 months ago
    January 2024 security update reaches the original Galaxy Z Flip

    January 2024 security update reaches the original Galaxy Z Flip

    Samsung started rolling out a new security update earlier this month, and it has already reached the company's high-end and mid-range smartphones. Now, the January 2024 security update has started reaching the original Galaxy Z Flip, and European countries were the first to get the update. Galaxy Z Flip gets January 2024 security update The […]

    • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
    • 2 months ago