Can I buy a foldable phone someplace other than Samsung? Apple, Motorola may enter market
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For its part, Samsung was not only among the first to enter the fold-style segment in 2019, or in the flip-style market the following year. It was until recently the only company with offerings in both foldable smartphone segments.
Additionally, as other early entrants hesitated or faltered along the way, Samsung’s commitment remained unwavering. The electronics giant is the only player, for example, to establish a regular cadence of annual updates – and stuck to it.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4: New folding smartphones launching Aug. 26
In any event, Samsung managed to make its announcement ahead of Huawei. The electronics giant pulled in its annual Unpacked winter reveal to an old San Francisco theater the Wednesday before MWC, and just 48 hours before many of us attending the event left for Spain.
Huawei’s Mate X foldable was an impressive device, with a giant display that wrapped around the phone’s exterior. Folded, you could use either half of the display. And unfurled, the 8-inch display was noticeably larger than the original Galaxy Fold’s 7.3-inch screen.
But with a small exterior screen available for use when the Fold was, you know, folded, its big screen did seem to be far better protected. And at $1,980, the Fold was significantly less expensive than the Mate X, which started at about $2,400.
Flippin’ phones
In the meantime, Lenovo’s Motorola hoped to capitalize on nostalgia with a vertical foldable smartphone created in the image of its iconic circa 2004 Razr flip phone. Motorola unveiled the Moto Razr in late 2019. The Razr was an attractive smartphone. But Motorola under-configured the device with last-generation components – and set the price at a stunningly high $1,500.
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A few months later, when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip – its first vertical flip foldable – it was clear that Motorola missed the mark. The Flip was much more richly configured. And at $1,450, it was even a little less expensive.
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A couple of other new Chinese manufacturers have also joined the fold, so to speak. OPPO launched the OPPO Find N, a fold-style device available only in China. And Xiaomi started shipping the Mi Mix Fold 2. It has many of the top-tier components as the Fold4, plus it’s a little thinner – and at about $1,350, a little cheaper, but only available in China.
What about the Apple tax?
With Chinese vendors entering the market – and Apple reportedly considering it – what will happen to prices going forward?
On the one hand, Chinese suppliers invariably force prices lower. And though it hasn’t really happened yet, it should only be a matter of time.
Rather than lowering market prices, on the other hand, Apple has more of a reputation for convincing consumers that the high prices they charge are reasonable. So which of these two opposing forces will have more of an impact?
USA TODAY columnist Mike Feibus is president and principal analyst of FeibusTech, a Scottsdale, Arizona, market research and consulting firm. Reach him at mikef@feibustech.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeFeibus.