Samsung’s “Budget” Z Fold 6 FE Might Be the Key to Counter Huawei’s Dominance in the Foldable Segment
Samsung’s foldable market has not performed well in the past six months since the launch of its flagship Z5 series. Huawei, whose popularity in this segment has been soaring now, is emerging as a threat to the South Korean tech giant’s dominance in this mobile division.
A Cheaper Samsung Foldable May Push the Company Back to #1, But a “Budget” Foldable is ~$1,000
This week, a report by the research firm DSCC pointed out that Huawei foldables’ shipments have massively exploded in the first quarter of 2024, so much so that the sales numbers indicate a 100% rise from the same period last year. This means that the company is now selling close to double the number of foldables than that it had in 2023.
These numbers from Huawei show an upward trend. The company will soon surpass 40% of the market share in the foldable segment, overtaking the leader, Samsung. Already, in the last quarter of 2023, Huawei imported a large number of Husqada and Zhaolide bearings. With that, they had also ramped up the purchase of BOE panels to improve manufacturing numbers.
Samsung’s Z Fold & Flip 5 Isn’t Selling Well
Samsung has another problem to address, and that is the slow sales figures this year. Compared to what the numbers represent for the past few years, this time, Samsung didn’t grow well in the last quarter. The sales in Q4 2023 dropped by more than half compared to Q4 2022, and the market reception, especially in a large market like China, wasn’t good.
To counter this issue and boost sales, Samsung is eyeing a budget foldable for this year, presumably launching alongside the Z6 series later this year. However, there is little to no reliable inside information on the spec sheet for the phone. However, there has been evidence for the cheaper “Z Fold 6 FE” in production.
Last month, a leak by WinFuture spotted three codenames for Samsung’s upcoming foldables—B6 (Flip 6), Q6 (Fold 6), and Q6A (Fold 6 FE). If true, a cheaper foldable could really be the key for Samsung to come back on top.
At this point, we aren’t sure of what cuts would be made to push down the costs, but there have been rumblings that the screen size and the overall feel wouldn’t be sacrificed. Instead, the internals and features like the S Pen would be cut down.
Samsung itself hasn’t commented on the matter, so take this news with a grain of salt. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
