Samsung is stalling and no longer knows how to innovate with its folding smartphones

Yet at the origin of the first folding smartphones, Samsung today seems blocked in their development. A leak regarding the release of the next Z Fold 6 seems to show that the manufacturer is having all the difficulty in the world to offer real new ideas for its own revolution.

It has now been 5 years since the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the first edition of Samsung’s folding smartphones, entered the smartphone market. After taking a real risk, and suffering a few setbacks, these models seem to have found their audience, to the point that serious competitors have finally emerged. And if they are starting with a long delay, the gap no longer seems so big, as the South Korean manufacturer now seems reluctant to innovate after having developed such a different technology. A leak concerning the release of the Galaxy Fold 6, in fact, contains very little reason to get excited.

An ambitious innovation…

Not too surprisingly, the first version of the Galaxy Fold came with its share of problems, the first and most annoying probably being the annoying tendency of the screens to stop working after a day or two after being folded. But once these first problems were corrected, the smartphone was a real success, selling nearly half a million copies in less than three months, thus meeting commercial success, but also criticism from the press. specialized.

This innovation, in fact, has the merit of being more innovative than changes in dimensions, charger or definition of the camera. And for a time, that was more than enough, because the Fold was the only one on the folding smartphone market. It took time, and probably a lot of money, but the competition is now there. Thus, in 2023, no less than three smartphone manufacturers have released a folding version: Google and its Pixel Fold, OnePlus with its OnePlus Open, and finally the Honor Magic from Honor.

…and then nothing, or almost

Unfortunately for Samsung, its Galaxy Fold seems to have relied a little too much on the initial shock effect of innovation, and seems to have largely stagnated since. Furthermore, the manufacturer does not have such captive customers as Apple for example, and is therefore fortunate for the moment that the Apple brand has not yet invested in the market.

Because a leak from Samsung shows that, for the release of the Galaxy Fold 6, very few innovations are to be expected compared to the 5, already far from being revolutionary. The design is practically the same, except that the corners are less rounded and the faces are flatter. The dimensions are also changing, but don’t expect a revolution: we go from 154.9 x 129.9 x 6.1mm when unfolded to 153.5 x 132.5 x 6.1mm. It will therefore remain one of the thickest folding smartphones on the market. Its specs don’t really change either: the cameras and the battery are the same, as is the refresh rate. From the point of view of improvements, only the RAM which goes from 12 to 16 GB, and a better protected screen are really notable.

In other words, Samsung clearly seems to be resting on its laurels, and the releases of the Pixel Fold 2 and OnePlus Open 2 planned for this year could well cause a rude awakening for the brand.

Source : Android font, Techradar