According to the latest report, Samsung’s mobile business unit, in a meeting with suppliers in October, elaborated on its foldable smartphone strategy. Samsung told suppliers that it sees the foldable smartphone market growing at a compound annual growth rate of 80 percent by 2025.
The South Korean tech giant also said it expects Apple to join the folding screen space in 2024, but first with laptops and tablets, not smartphones. This may suggest that Apple’s new machine should also purchase flexible panels from Samsung Display.
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Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple is testing a device with a 9-inch foldable display, but the long-rumored foldable iPhone is unlikely to be launched before 2025.
Samsung also said that in South Korea, iPhone users in their 20s and 30s are switching devices to Samsung foldable phones three to four times faster than before. The tech giant also said it expects 90 percent of foldable smartphone owners to continue buying a foldable phone for their next phone.
While foldable phones account for only 1% of the entire smartphone market today, Samsung believes customers are showing high satisfaction and the industry is expected to grow exponentially, sources said.
At the same time, Samsung also shared some challenges that it believes its suppliers need to overcome to make foldable phones more popular. Among them making the phone lighter, thinner, and more durable, reducing creases on the screen, creating a slot for the S Pen, and enabling better imaging performance.
Samsung Electronics also requested to increase the vibration frequency of the vibration motor and develop new materials that can reduce the weight of folding screen phones.
According to reports, the tech giant initially planned to bring a slot for the S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and also hoped to have more high-end lenses on the Fold 4, but was forced to give up due to weight and thickness constraints, and may it be implemented on the new device next year. And when it comes to durability, Samsung aims to make its foldable phone as durable as its previous flagship phones.
During the meeting, issues such as the development of Android software for 4:3 ratio screens were also emphasized. At present, the results are still unknown.
