Following the news that Samsung has announced two new folding phones;

Anisha Bhatia, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Samsung is going from strength to strength in foldables with its new Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 phones, cementing its position in this innovative hardware segment. Samsung is on its fourth generation of folding phones, with solid improvements in each iteration and an effort to make pricing palatable to consumers.

“The Z Flip 4 is ‘more’ at the same price. The phone, which is priced similar to its predecessor at $999.99, includes more customized options, has a tougher front display, stronger battery and comes with Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip. The Z Flip series has already pushed folding phones onto the mainstream stage, and promotions from US carriers such as AT&T offering the phone for free with an eligible trade-in will only aid consumer adoption.

“Phones with folding displays continue to whet consumer appetites in a stagnating smartphone market. The only real competitor to Samsung is Lenovo’s Motorola Razr in the US and Europe. Apple is entirely absent in this segment and Huawei’s smartphone woes have forced it to take a backseat. Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have barely scratched the surface of this market. With practically no viable competitor, this category is wide open for Samsung to shape.”

Hear Anisha Bhatia and Emma Taylor discuss this topic in GlobalData’s podcast Instant Insights. Listen to the podcast on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple.