'Galaxy Unpacked' D-Day... Driving Success with Pre-Orders

Released on the 10th... Official Launch on the 26th
15 Million Units Targeted... Market Dominance Increases

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] "The popularization of foldable phones will be realized this year."

Samsung Electronics has drawn its sword to dominate the premium smartphone market in the second half of the year. Samsung Electronics will unveil its ambitious ‘Galaxy Z Fold·Flip4’ at the ‘Galaxy Unpacked 2022’ event held on the 10th. The focus was on performance improvements rather than appearance. It is known to have overcome the shortcomings of the previous model in terms of thickness, screen wrinkles, weight, and battery. Samsung Electronics plans to increase its dominance in the global smartphone market by leading with an ‘ultimate foldable phone’ equipped with advanced technology.

15 Million Units Target, ‘All-In’ on Popularization

The new foldable phone, Z Fold4, is expected to have a shape closer to a perfect square than its predecessor. It features a 7.6-inch internal display and a 6.2-inch external AMOLED display, and its weight will be lighter. The camera is equipped with a 50-megapixel main camera. The Z Flip4 is similar in size to its predecessor at 6.7 inches, and the battery is expected to increase by 400mAh to 3700mAh. Charging speed will also increase 1.6 times from 15W to 25W. Samsung Electronics will start pre-orders for the ‘Galaxy Z Fold·Flip4’ from the 16th and officially launch them on the 26th. Samsung Electronics has set a shipment target of over 15 million units for the new foldable phones.

Samsung Electronics has been building momentum even before the product reveal to ensure the success of the 4th generation foldable phones. Large-scale outdoor advertisements are being conducted in major cities worldwide such as New York, USA, and London, UK. In Korea, Samsung is proactively targeting consumers through various marketing campaigns in collaboration with the three major telecom carriers: SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus. The three carriers have launched pre-order notification events for the Unpacked event on their official websites, offering prizes such as Naver Pay credits and popular luxury goods through a lottery.

Foldable Phone Market Won’t Be Lost to China

There is currently no competitor to Galaxy in the global foldable phone market. Although Chinese smartphone manufacturers, as latecomers, are launching aggressive campaigns, expanding market share is difficult due to technological limitations. Since Samsung Electronics launched the world’s first foldable phone in 2019, it has maintained overwhelming dominance in the market for three years. Samsung’s foldable phone shipments, which were only 370,000 units in 2019, surged to 2.1 million units in 2020 and over 8 million units last year. According to global market research firm Canalys, the foldable phone market is expected to exceed 30 million units by 2024. Samsung aims to increase its foldable phone market share from 88% last year to the 90% range this year.

In the second half of the year, Chinese smartphone manufacturers will also unveil new foldable phones. Motorola, a Lenovo subsidiary, will release the next-generation foldable phone ‘Razr 2022’ on the 11th, the day after Samsung Electronics’ Unpacked event. Xiaomi plans to launch the foldable phone ‘Mix Fold2’, and Oppo will release the foldable phone ‘Find N2’. Despite China’s pursuit, the formula ‘Foldable Phone = Samsung Electronics’ is expected to remain unbroken for the time being.

Samsung Electronics plans to recover its second-half performance through the success of this new product. Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Experience (MX) business division recorded an operating profit of 2.62 trillion won in the second quarter of this year, down 19.1% from the same period last year.