The company may be lowering its targets in light of economic trends
Samsung’s launch for the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 is just around the corner, but some have already set their sights on what’s next. With foldable phones still in their early days and constantly maturing, if expectations are high for the phones that are about to launch, they most certainly are even higher for the ones that are coming next year. Luckily, if you’re planning to skip this upcoming generation to go straight for the Z Fold5 and Z Flip5, the first rumors have started to appear online — some encouraging, others not so much.
Let’s go with the bad ones. According to The Elec (via Android Authority), Samsung will be cutting shipping targets for next year’s foldable phones because the company is expecting to sell fewer models overall. The company has current estimates pegged, in total, at 10 million foldables for 2023, out of which it expects to ship 8 million Z Flip5 devices and 2 million units for the Z Fold5. Samsung is naturally betting big on the Flip, being both the cheapest phone in the lineup and the most approachable by average users. Still, if true, it’s a notable reduction — after all, Samsung wanted to sell 15 million foldables this year alone.
This reduction can be attributed to several factors, including rising component costs, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the economic uncertainty we’re currently living in. Of course, it’s still early days, and the phones are still at least a year away. Perhaps, if the Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 perform better than Samsung is expecting, the company could also ramp up its expectations for next year.
As early as it might be, we also have a few preliminary specs of the Z Fold5. In particular, we might be getting a triple rear lens setup with a main 50MP GN3 sensor, something similar to the camera rumored for the Z Fold4. We’re also likely getting a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU.
We’re anticipating leaks and rumors about these future foldables to ramp up next year, but right now, definitely take everything with a pinch of salt. At the moment, we’re stuck eagerly awaiting the launch of the Z Fold4 and Z Flip4, which are looking quite promising.
