SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) — Samsung Electronics Friday launched its latest series of foldable smartphones in nearly 40 countries, hoping the new products will boost lackluster global smartphone sales amid soaring inflation.
The world’s largest mobile phone maker said the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 series of foldable smartphones, along with the Galaxy Watch 5 smartwatch and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro headphones, have been officially launched in South Korea and the United States. , among other countries, and that the company plans to expand product availability to about 130 countries by September.
The foldable phones have been pre-orders in about 70 countries since Samsung unveiled them earlier this month during its “Unpacked” event.
In South Korea, 970,000 pre-orders were placed for the seven days ending August 22, according to the company, the most for any foldable phone, and about 5.4 percent more than the previous record.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 bivalve, with a slimmer hinge, features longer battery life and higher camera performance. The larger Galazy Z Fold 4, which opens like a book, is now lighter and offers an improved and intuitive multi-screen environment, with a design similar to that of a PC. It also has a longer battery life and better shockproof protection features.
While Samsung is a global leader in the foldable phone market, the new models appear to be lacking in key innovations and have similar specs, according to some experts.
There are no noticeable changes in the new phones, said Lee Dong-ju, an analyst at SK Securities, but they seem to have fixed the flaws of their predecessors.
Samsung is counting on the success of its new foldable phones, the analyst said, and predicted they would sell around 16 million units this year.
He added that despite the slight changes in the specifications, the goal can be reached, due to the aggressive marketing push of the company.
The latest series of foldable smartphones comes at a time when the world’s largest smartphone maker, like many other consumer electronics companies, is facing difficulties stemming from global economic problems, which have left consumers with less money to spend on non-essential goods.
Samsung sold 60 million smartphones in the second quarter, topping the global smartphone market with a market share of 21 percent, according to market research firm Canalys. The number is 19 percent lower than the previous quarter, but slightly higher than 58 million a year ago.
Global smartphone sales fell 9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter as disposable income for consumers shrank due to rising inflation.
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