Unpack Event to Be Held at COEX in Late July
Presenting Cutting-Edge Technology... Confidence as the 'Foldable Pioneer'
Samsung Electronics announced that it will hold the 'Galaxy Unpacked' event in Korea for the first time ever. Seoul has been chosen as the host city, with plans to expand the foldable phone market centered on Korea.
Samsung Electronics revealed on the 7th that it will hold 'Galaxy Unpacked,' where it unveils its latest foldable products, at COEX in Seoul at the end of July. Until now, Samsung has held this event in major overseas cities in mid-August before launching the products to the market. In other words, the product unveiling this year is likely to be about two weeks earlier than usual.
Galaxy Unpacked began in March 2010 in Las Vegas, USA, with the launch of the first Galaxy S model. It has been held in major global cities such as New York and San Francisco in the USA, London in the UK, Berlin in Germany, and Barcelona in Spain, presenting innovation and direction for the mobile industry.
Samsung Electronics has confirmed Seoul as the venue for this July's Unpacked event. The unusual decision is driven by strong confidence in the new foldable products. Since launching foldable phones for the first time in 2019, Samsung has improved their completeness every year and led the market. With major manufacturers including Chinese companies and Google entering the foldable market, Samsung’s strategy is to assert its presence as the 'originator of foldables.' Amid the global K-culture boom and unprecedented interest in the Korean market, Samsung aims to imprint the formula 'Foldable Phone = Samsung' based on overwhelming product completeness and technological prowess.
On August 10 last year, Tae-moon Roh, head of Samsung Electronics' MX Division, introduced the foldable smartphones 'Galaxy Z Flip4' and 'Galaxy Z Fold4' at the 'Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2022'. [Photo by Samsung Electronics]
Through the Seoul Unpacked event, Samsung Electronics plans to showcase its super-gap technology vision to the world and convey its philosophy of open innovation through Samsung’s openness. In particular, by unveiling new foldable products in the Korean market, Samsung intends to strengthen its influence as the pioneer of foldables. Korean consumers are sensitive to new experiences and trends and actively embrace innovative technologies. Their standards for quality and service are also high. Among global brands, the saying 'If it works in Korea, it works in the global market' is almost a rule.
In fact, last year, foldable smartphones accounted for 13.6% of all smartphone sales in Korea (Counterpoint Research, by volume), making foldable users notably prominent worldwide. The Galaxy Z4 series, released last year, recorded nearly one million pre-orders. It is predicted that the popularization of foldables in Korea will spread to the global market.
Recently, the foldable phone market has been expanding not only with Chinese companies such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi but also with Google joining in. Motorola also unveiled the 'Razr 40 Ultra' on the 1st. Apple, Samsung’s biggest competitor, is also reportedly developing foldable phones. Samsung’s foldable market share, which once exceeded 80%, dropped to 45% in the first quarter of this year according to DSCC research.
Market research firm TrendForce forecasts that global foldable phone shipments will increase by 55% this year to reach 19.8 million units. Due to the global economic downturn, total smartphone shipments are expected to remain around 1.2 billion units, similar to last year.
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