The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 are the latest additions to Samsung’s foldable lineup. The Galaxy Z Folds continue to be the flagship quality premium phones in Samsung’s foldable lineup, while the Galaxy Z Flips have established themselves as really fun phones for those who are dipping their toes into the world of foldables. The $999 price tag, compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s eye-popping $1,800, also makes them more accessible. Add some amazing deals on top to make it a breeze to buy the new flip phone compared to many other flips on the market right now.
But that doesn’t mean the Galaxy Z Flip 4 isn’t expensive (unless you opt for the wonderful trade-in deals Samsung offers during pre-orders). Standalone, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 still starts at $999, which may be affordable by foldable standards, but it belongs very much in the upper echelons of smartphone pricing. The company may have no choice but to keep its prices static. A “Fan Edition” phone with a relatively affordable price, however, would turn more buyers into folding people. Hear me out on this one!
Samsung’s “gateway device” to foldables needs to be cheaper
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 “Fan Edition” phone arrived during the unfortunate times of a global pandemic. But it was certainly the right time for a feature phone at the price people were looking to pay during a pandemic with less purchasing power. None of Samsung’s “Fan Edition” phones established itself as one of the best phones to buy, but they offered great value for the money. A similar approach to the folding space could turn the tide for Samsung and attract many new customers.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 is priced high at $1,800, making it one of the most expensive smartphones you can buy right now. Only those with deep pockets can afford the Galaxy Z Fold 4, an exclusivity that makes it more exciting in the smartphone space. Basically, it generates a lot of buzz and draws eyes to your fold line, which can then be converted into leads. So what Samsung is cooking up behind the scenes right now seems to be perfect: use the most expensive, niche device that’s out of reach for all but deep-pocketed consumers to drive interest and sell the exciting proposal to use a unique device to get people to buy the foldable in the first place.
Getting an “entry-level device” into the hands of consumers now will turn them into foldable stans that will eventually upgrade to more premium options down the line. Samsung is dominating the foldable space right now, and bringing so many people into its ecosystem will only help it cement itself in a category that others will struggle to break into. But this “entry-level device” needs to be a little more accessible than the Galaxy Z Flip 4, especially in markets where Chinese phone makers offer great phones at a significantly lower price.
That’s why a Galaxy Z Flip FE makes more sense to enter the foldable scene with cheaper parts. A more affordable foldable Galaxy A series would mean the world to budget shoppers, but it seems too early to expect an “affordable” foldable as most OEMs are still playing catch-up with Samsung’s dominance in this space . But how do you go from a $1,000 Flip to, say, a $600 Flip FE or even a $700 FE?
Cut the correct corners in folding
The supply chain plays an important role in adding numbers to a price tag. You can’t make a phone cheaper if the parts used to make it aren’t cheaper. If you know anything about supply chains, you probably already know that parts can’t get cheaper until they’re manufactured at scale. Samsung sells more foldables than before, but they definitely don’t sell as many foldables as, say, a regular Galaxy S series flagship. That’s one of the reasons why it can’t lower the price of its existing foldables.
Samsung can, however, create a new foldable by cutting the right corners. It’s one of those things that’s easier said than done, but I’d only trust a big player like Samsung to get the job done. Many Android OEMs lead by example in making quality phones without demanding a lot of money. This includes almost every Chinese smartphone manufacturer with a list of phones capable of delivering an amazing experience for a fraction of the price. Samsung itself makes a lot of great phones that don’t cost you an arm and a leg, so it’s no stranger to cutting corners when the product calls for it.
Reuse old smartphone chips
Judging by what Samsung has achieved with their “Fan Edition” phones, they don’t necessarily have to compromise on the chipset. All “Fan Edition” phones of the past were powered by the same chipset used in their flagship counterpart. That said, there’s no shortage of reliable chips in 2022. Older chips may not get the same attention as the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 or the latest Exynos processors, but there’s still plenty of value to be found on these chips.
Older chipsets may not hold the same attention as newer ones, but there is still a lot of value to be found in these chips.
A Snapdragon 778G or its slightly altered version powering the Nothing Phone 1 is a great example to consider. Qualcomm has also reused many of its older chips in the past. The Snapdragon 870 SoC, for example, is really just a better optimized version of the Snapdragon 865 SoC. Many of these chips are on the cutting edge, powering some solid devices in the Android space in 2022. Samsung may also turn to some of their older Exynos chips to clean up their inventory, something we’ve seen many manufacturers do.
Cheaper building materials
Rumors about Samsung making a cheaper foldable date back to 2020, when the company was said to be working on a Galaxy Fold Lite. It was said to have a non-UTG folding screen, which costs less. That cheaper foldable never materialized, but Samsung can always use cheaper materials for the other parts of its phone. The plastic back of the Galaxy S20 FE with a matte finish mimicked the look and feel of premium devices, and the same playbook can be applied here as well.
The Galaxy S21 is also an excellent phone to mention here, which I think looks just as good as its glass-backed siblings. There’s also the Pixel 6a, which easily ranks among the best-looking phones of 2022 in my books. There are plenty of other phones I can think of with a plastic back that look more expensive than their price tag might suggest.
Remove the least important features
Ditching less important features like wireless charging to keep the price down is a textbook move Samsung has used in the past. It’s a trade-off that I think many users would be willing to accept in exchange for more important features. Samsung hasn’t made any headway in the battery department, so it’s not like they have huge expectations to live up to, especially on a cheaper phone. I actually don’t mind going back to the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s 15W charging speeds if I don’t have to spend that much money. It will become an easier pill to swallow in the case of a relatively cheaper phone.
While this doesn’t seem like an exhaustive list of changes to make to existing foldables to make them more affordable, it’s enough from Samsung to get things going. The truth is that Samsung really doesn’t have to go to great lengths to make an affordable foldable. They already have some solid budget phones and affordable flagships, and it’s only a matter of time before we see something similar in the foldable space. Maybe global competition in the folding space is what they need to make some moves. Not only will it give Samsung a bigger slice of the pie, but it could help drive more demand and make more expensive parts for foldables at scale.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 is Samsung’s latest flip phone, now updated with a better camera, better battery life and a new chipset.
What are your thoughts on Samsung making a cheaper foldable? Let us know by dropping us a line in the comments below.