Samsung has seemingly had quite a successful time with foldable phones so far, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 in particular bringing them almost into the mainstream, but by their very nature, they still feel a little niche. That though could change with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
According to Ross Young (who has an excellent track record for leaks), Samsung is planning to produce more than twice as many Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 units this July than it did for the previous models last July. This will precede a launch likely in August.
That’s a huge difference and – as Young says – it points to a very strong launch. In other words, if Young is right it seems like Samsung expects to sell enormous numbers of both of these phones.
Samsung's Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 phone production for July are more than double what it was for the Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3. Pointing to a very strong launch. Might see a price cut.April 20, 2022
The company could be helped along there by price cuts, with Young adding that we “might see a price cut”, though it’s not clear from his tweet whether both phones would be reduced or just one of them.
Certainly though, price is the biggest issue foldable phones face, and its lower price is very likely why the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is more successful than the Galaxy Z Fold 3. So if Samsung can push the price of the new phones down, then it could have a real sales hit on its hands.
Analysis: how low might they go?
There hasn’t been much in the way of pricing rumors for these upcoming phones yet, other than one source saying that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 might be cheaper than the Fold 3, but not saying how much by.
For reference, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 launched for a starting price of $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499, so it’s a prohibitively expensive phone, especially as some of the specs – such as the cameras – aren’t even the best Samsung has to offer.
If the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is going to move beyond being a niche device, it probably needs to be substantially cheaper – or to be at least a little cheaper while packing truly flagship components across the board.
We can’t really see Samsung dropping the price massively, as new models of phones usually only shift in price slightly, but given how many units it’s reportedly building you never know.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 meanwhile launched with a starting price of $999 / £949 / AU$1,499, which while high is much more reasonable – there are non-foldable phones that cost more. Of course, those phones also typically have better specs in a lot of ways.
Still, this is the closest thing to a mainstream foldable yet, and Samsung would probably only need to slightly reduce the price of the Z Flip 4 to make it truly mainstream. Or it could deliver truly flagship specs and not have to lower the price at all.
So the Z Fold 4 is more in need of a price cut, and therefore probably more likely to get one, but it’s still likely to be the less popular of the two unless Samsung really surprises us with its pricing strategy.
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