Adam Kos Flexible phones have been with us for several years now. Their sales aren't huge, but with more and more manufacturers adopting this solution, it's time to take them seriously. What may have initially looked like just a technological fad can grow into a trend and Apple should not ignore it.
There is probably no need to worry about the future of the brand, especially when we see that every 20th smartphone sold in 2022 was an iPhone 13. Even the iPhone 13 Pro Max or 14 Pro Max did well, even if it only hit the totals for four months from year. You can read more about it in our previous article article. The truth is, however, that the world's manufacturers are adopting flexible phones precisely so that they don't miss the train that Samsung started quite successfully.
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Samsung is the leader, but for how long?
This summer, the South Korean manufacturer intends to introduce the fifth generation of its folding devices, i.e. the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 models. The first is a high-end solution combining a tablet with a smartphone, the second is a compact clamshell phone. Although both models have significant design limitations, and when the competition shows that they can do better, Samsung is the market leader. It is not only because he was the first to introduce his puzzles, but also because he has a strong name that is known throughout the technology world.
According to Financial Times 14,2 million flexible smartphones were sold last year, of which 12 million carried the Samsung logo. Huawei then managed to sell less than two million, the rest was shared by brands such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Honor. Motorola only managed to sell around 40 of its clamshell Razr. But the Chinese predators do not throw flint in the rye. Despite the falling trend in smartphone sales, the one with jigsaws is expected to grow, when it is estimated that around 30 million will be sold this year. And that is no longer a completely negligible number, when it is more than twice that number.
Galaxy z fold4
People are bored with the usual designs of the same phones and want to be different, even when it comes to using the device itself. Samsung plans to deliver exactly 15 million of its jigsaws to the market this year, so the remaining 15 million is handling space for everyone else. At the same time, do not think that the other solutions are some kind of kittens. These are very successful, and above all really usable, machines. Until now, their biggest disadvantage was that the brands sold them mainly in their domestic, i.e. Chinese, market, which is slowly changing and they are starting to expand beyond the borders and into the global market.
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Apple is waiting needlessly
From Apple's side, it would really be worth jumping on this train, also because Google is also about to follow it. If you also look at the portfolio of iPads, the sales of which, like all tablets, are still falling. In addition, the portfolio of iPads is perhaps unnecessarily comprehensive - we have the Pro, Air, mini, and even the basic series, where Apple sells the 9th and 10th generations. With iPhones, only one line of four models is introduced each year, so if we're going to play for strength, there's clearly more choice in iPads.
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Vratislav Holub It simply follows that one more option for iPhones would be nice, and Apple could do well with it. After all, nothing much else is expected. It can follow a trend that it only supports with its vision and it probably doesn't need to be criticized for coming up with a form that is already here, only in its design language. We don't want to invent a circle, we just want to have more choices, because Apple won't let us down with iPhone colors for a long time.
