Samsung ‘under pressure’ to produce flexible, folding phone that’s more than a gimmick
Samsung is just hours aways from launching the world’s first “revolutionary” folding smartphone in an epic showdown with rival Apple.
The world’s biggest smartphone maker is making a huge play to outshine its long-time rival this week in a showdown that could decide the fate of billions of dollars, and the shape of the device you slip into your pocket for years to come.
Samsung has swapped its typical New York launch pad for Apple’s home-ground in San Francisco, and booked one of its competitor’s favourite venues to launch its tenth anniversary flagship smartphones.
And with rumours swirling about “revolutionary” folding, flexible handsets, and slipping sales for Apple’s iPhones, analysts are tipping Samsung could claim the battle for now if it avoids the device becoming “a gimmick” or pricing itself out of the market.
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The South Korean tech giant is expected to unveil several new smartphones at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco early on Thursday, the same venue where Apple launched the iPhone 7, the iPhone 6S, the iPad Pro, and Apple TV.
The event is expected to feature a major announcement from Samsung, coming on the tenth anniversary of its flagship Galaxy S range, and after months of speculation about phones with flexible screens that fold open and close like novels.
Gartner senior research director Werner Goertz said holding a launch event in San Francisco was highly unusual for Samsung, and could be read as payback for Apple moving its most recent launch to New York.
But he said Samsung also faced huge expectations to produce a standout device after showing off a flexible smartphone prototype last year, and as rivals “Apple and Huawei were creeping up” on the company’s smartphone lead.
“There is pressure. There is pressure to come up with something revolutionary,” Mr Goertz said.
“They have the opportunity and potential to create something truly innovative.”
Rumours indicate Samsung could produce a smartphone with two screens — one on its front, and another larger, tablet-style screen inside the device — and Google confirmed it was working with the company to produce software compatible with a dual-screened gadget.
Mr Goertz warned this device would also need killer apps, or there was “a huge risk of such a phone becoming a gimmick”.
Chinese phone makers Huawei and Xiaomi are also expected to launch phones with flexible screens in the coming weeks, potentially during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Leaked videos also indicated Samsung could launch other, more traditional Galaxy S smartphones at today’s event, with edge-to-edge displays and fingerprint sensors built into the screen.
But the success of any new Samsung smartphones could hinge on their price.
Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said the average selling price of smartphones soared 13 per cent in Australia last year, in a jump that slowed sales of Apple’s iPhones, one of which set a new price record of $2369.
“We see the average buying cycle being three years or longer now,” he said. “People are replacing their smartphones out of necessity, for breakages, rather than for new features, even cameras.”
Mr Fadaghi said even a brand new style of smartphone, with a flexible screen, would have to prove itself to potential buyers as worth its potentially high price as “it’s getting harder to get consumers to upgrade”.
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to San Francisco as a guest of Samsung.
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