According to a new report, Samsung is changing its 2025 foldable phone plans in response to the underperforming Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. A few generations into foldable phones, demand seems not as high as companies like Samsung, Google and OnePlus had hoped.
The report comes from ETNews (via @Jukanlosreve) and says Samsung plans to reduce production of its foldable phones to around 5 million units — 3 million for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and 2 million for the Z Fold 7. This drop is significant compared to the current Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, which have 8.2 million units total. Overall, the company is predicted to build 39% fewer phones.
As scary as it is to hear that Samsung is reducing the production of phones, it's better for the company to preemptively reduce the number of phones than to make more than needed, which seems to be what happened with this generation.
Lower foldable demand is affecting more than just Samsung. According to analyst Ross Young, other foldable brands in China are also reducing their production plans, showing that the market as a whole isn't quite ready to plunge headfirst into the alternative phone design.
According to market research firm TrendForce, foldables are expected to make up only 1.5% of the overall smartphone market by the end of 2024. And it predicts that share could grow to 4.8% by 2028.
Seeing the market shift will be interesting for a company like Apple, which hasn't jumped into foldable phones. It's presumed that the company has something foldable in the works, but we haven't heard anything concrete yet. Apple could drive new life into the space or back away if demand isn't high enough.
It's not all bad news for Samsung. Another report says the firm intends to increase the Galaxy S series production to 37.4 million units for the upcoming S25 series, up about 7% from the Galaxy S24 series. Perhaps the prohibitively high prices keep people from going foldable, or buyers simply prefer the phones designed they're accustomed to.
