This is how we got drunk that they can offer us a revolutionary smartphone, which before that cost more than two thousand dollars, but we just refuse and say that we are not ready to buy it. I don't want to buy a $ 900 Samsung Galaxy Fold, not even because it is expensive, but on the contrary – because it is cheap. If I buy a new foldable phone this year, I want to pay $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 for it. I didn't go crazy and won a million dollars. On the contrary, I approach this issue as pragmatically as possible and can explain my position, with which you may agree.
This smartphone is interesting to everyone, but it is expensive. Will be cheaper?
When the first foldable phone was released
The first foldable smartphone was introduced last year by Samsung. And even if in a couple of days Huawei she rolled out her folding device, it is the Koreans who are the founders of the genre of “new clamshells”.
The fact that the company was not just the first to start, but also confidently leads, is evidenced by the fact that at the beginning of the year Samsung Galaxy Z Flip was selling very well, and with sales statistics Huawei Mate Xs for 200,000 rubles with us and does not share.
Samsung's first foldable screen device, dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Fold, cost $ 1,980. The price of the company's second foldable smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, hovered around $ 1,500 from the very beginning. It was already much nicer.
And this phone sold well.
When will the cheap foldable phone come out?
Now there is information that a foldable Samsung may appear already this year, which will cost only $ 900. Someone says that it will be released this year at the same time as the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2, but someone doubts this and bets on next year. Both are, in my opinion, a bad idea.
One of those sources that talk about the appearance of new items in a month is SamMobile and even claims that its price will be one million won in South Korea or $ 900 in the United States.
The main question in this case is: what will Samsung have to sacrifice for the opportunity to cut the price by about half? Even if the mainstream Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is cheaper this year than last year, then the 1.5x difference will be very large.
All due to the fact that this phone has the lion's share of the cost of the screen. This is a fundamentally new technology, on the development of which billions of dollars have been spent. The rest of the phone does not shine with any delights and its analogue from a technical point of view can be purchased for 700-800 dollars. It turns out that more than a thousand dollars has been allocated for the cost of the screen, hinge and other attributes of this particular smartphone. This also includes significant amounts allocated for manufacturing defects, which are detected at the plant, and those that will surface already during operation. The screen, or even the entire phone, will need to be changed, and these are expenses that also cannot be ignored in the final cost
This should also be included in the price and at least the price of this smartphone is evenly 'smeared' over the cost of all Galaxy Folds released.
How you can make an expensive smartphone cheaper
Given that the Samsung Galaxy Fold is not the top-end device in terms of internals, we can only guess what else you can save on. It is the simplification of the camera and other parts, according to analysts and insiders, that will achieve a reduction in cost. But what kind of [dung] and sticks will a smartphone be made of, if the iron, which was already allocated several hundred dollars, is still simplified?
It's unlikely that over the course of a year Samsung has found a way to make screen technology so cheap that a smartphone really costs so little. According to analysts, it is proposed to save on the camera, which will become easier and receive fewer modules. Considering that the original Samsung Galaxy Fold hasn't torn up the camera ratings anyway, the savings on that won't do it anyway.
How many concepts have not been drawn in relation to a folding smartphone.
The processor will also become easier. Talking about Snapdragon 865 Plus and even more so Snapdragon 875 (if the Galaxy Fold Lite comes out a little later) is definitely not worth waiting for. At best, it will be Snapdragon 765 and even, most likely, without 5G.
What will be the budget Galaxy Fold
And, in fact, there is nothing more to save on. But just imagine how you buy a phone for $ 900, and it works like Jinga Fresh, but it has a foldable screen. Most likely, there will still be problems with reliability, but that's another story. With that said, the idea of releasing such a device looks very dubious and I definitely wouldn't want to buy it myself. Well, the folding screen would still be something straight WOW, but still there will be a fold on it and it will still be visible. I continue to say that this is the technology of the future, but it is too early to shove it into all the cracks. I don't think the company is going to get more feedback this way. It is already enough for a “piece of iron”.
The only salvation of the situation with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Fold Lite can only be the re-release of last year's device (the usual Fold) against the background of the super-cool Fold 2. Then the idea may really be promising, but you shouldn't hope so much.