Samsung misses its foldable target for 2022 by a huge margin
According to The Elec, Mr. Noh shared the estimated statistics during the Q&A session at the recently held annual exhibition of the Korea Printed Circuit Board (PCB) & Semiconductor Packaging Industry Association (KPCA). The analyst added that Samsung would also sell about two million older foldable models, such s the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 this year. So, the total sales volume of foldables could top ten million units. This is a healthy sales figure for the niche devices with less than a one percent penetration rate in the smartphone market. However, Samsung has bigger ambitions. The company wants to make foldables mainstream and was betting heavily on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 to set the tone for it. Unfortunately, the market didn’t respond in the same way it expected, with the current global economic situation partly to blame. While a shipment volume of 8 million would still represent a healthy 13 percent annual increase from the 7.1 million combined sales volume of Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 last year, Samsung is falling short of its target by over 45 percent. Noh Geun-chang suggested that the company may ship more than ten million new foldables next year. Combined with this year’s models, the total yearly sales volume may finally reach 15 million units in 2023. Slow but steady, the Korean firm seems certain to achieve its target.
Samsung has significantly improved its foldables
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are Samsung’s fourth-gen foldables. The company doesn’t have much competition in this niche with all other brands mostly playing in the Chinese market. But despite the lack of competition, the Korean firm has significantly improved its foldable offerings over the years, both in terms of software and hardware. If Samsung could lower the entry price a bit in the coming years, it may get a much-needed boost to its ambition of making foldables mainstream.
