Google is about to introduce its first foldable phone, Pixel Fold, on May 10, amid continuing historic declines in global smartphone shipments, now in their seventh straight downward quarter.
Even so, passionate Android smartphone enthusiasts are all abuzz about what Google has to offer, which became solid when Google posted a brief teaser video on Thursday with a promise of more details at Google I/O.
The Fold appears to open in a similar way to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold devices. According to CNBC, it will be a 5.80-inch phone that folds out to a 7.6-inch tablet and runs on a Google Tensor G2 processor and weighs 10 ounces. Pricetag: more than $1,700, according to early reports, compared to Samsung’s newest foldable, the Z Fold 4, with an initial price of $1,799.
Hefty pricetags have not hurt the foldable segment, as they are seen as fashionable and different and a top pick for gadget aficionados. Pricy top tier phones are also not what has caused the seven-quarter downturn, according to IDC and others. The smartphone segment pullback in recent months was primarily due to brands that serve the mid to low end of the market where margins are slim, said Ryan Reith, group vice president at IDC, in April.
“Consumers are excited about foldables, as they provide a totally different form factor,” IDC analyst Nabila Popal told Fierce Electronics on Friday. While still a small segment of the market, with 14 million foldables shipped in 2022, “it’s a trend here to stay,” she added.
IDC forecasts foldables to grow by 50% in 2023, even as the entire market is expected to drop, “which says a lot about the popularity of foldables.” (By comparison, 2022 ended with 1.2 billion smartphone shipments, the lowest annual total since 2013, according to IDC.)
IDC expects rapid growth for foldables in the next few years as more Android players enter the market, pegging 50 million foldables to ship in 2027 with an annual growth rate of 28%. Samsung so far has a 70% share of the foldables market.
The broader drop in smartphone demand, along with PCs and other computers, have led to lower revenues for chipmakers such as Intel and Qualcomm who have recently cited a continuing inventory correction and macroeconomic uncertainty.
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Apple doesn’t make a foldable smartphone, but seems to have bucked the downward industry trend at least recently. In Its March quarter earnings report, the company said its iPhone sales reached a record $51.3 billion, up by 2% year over year.
Apple tends to follow market trends and when it enters a market, it does well by correcting design and hardware mistakes of competitors. Some early Samsung foldables had problems with hinges and early reports have indicated the Pixel foldable is made with the most durable hinge on a foldable.
"Apple will make [a foldable or flip phone] and it's just a matter of when," Reith said in an interview with Fierce Electronics. "Once Apple gets in the game, the world will wake up to a tech already there."
Android foldables are sold by a variety of smartphone makers, especially in China, ,where OPPO just introduced a $1,200 flip phone which won't be sold in the US, Reith said. "I think those companies want Apple in the market" to boost interest in the product design.
Apple takes a big-picture view of economics, supply chain and market dynamics before introducing products, even if the company has the technology lined up, Reith said. For that reason, he said Apple may not introduce a VR/AR headset in June at WWDC, despite wide speculation such an introduction will occur. Launching a headset alongside an updated iPhone for sale in the fall would be challenging.