A new report from South Korean news outlet The Elec is suggesting that Samsung is considering to introduce an affordable variant of its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold smartphone in 2024. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Bloomberg had previously published similar findings back in July of last year, with claims that the tech giant is in talks with supply partners to assist in the development of the alleged entry-level model.
This time around, it is said that Samsung is aiming to increase its penetration into the Chinese foldable smartphone market, taking on rivals such as Xiaomi, HONOR and OPPO. In order to achieve this, the company is reportedly mulling on introducing an entry-level variant under its upcoming book-style foldable model, which is tentatively referred to as the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
The Elec also claims that Samsung is planning to make both variants thinner, as the Galaxy Z Fold 5 was reported to be the thickest foldable smartphone that was introduced last year. Additionally, the report mentions that the two Galaxy Z Fold 6 models are expected to launch during the second half of 2024.
As for its clamshell-styled foldable, the news outlet says that Samsung believes that its Galaxy Z Flip series is relatively established, even exceeding Galaxy Z Fold models in terms of shipments. In other words, there isn’t a reason for the company to consider an affordable variant of its compact foldable smartphone, at least at this time.
It’s also worth noting that Samsung had previously denied any plans of releasing a mid-range Galaxy Z model in 2024, adding that rumours regarding such devices “are groundless”. With that, we’ll only know for sure if The Elec’s recent report is actually accurate or not once the brand itself is ready to spill the details. Given that the expected launch date is sometime in mid-2024, it will take a while until an announcement is made.
(Source: The Elec)
