Samsung, Apple to face off in premium smartphone market

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 18:50

Samsung, Apple to face off in premium smartphone market

Posted : 2022-07-05 16:45

Updated : 2022-07-06 16:38

Samsung Electronics' Z Fold 3 foldable smartphone, left, and the Z Flip 3 foldable smartphone / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

New Galaxy Fold, Flip likely to be unveiled on Aug. 10

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics will clash with Apple in the premium smartphone market in the second half of this year as the Galaxy maker is set to unveil new foldable phones ― the Z Fold 4 and the Z Flip 4 ― in August to challenge the new iPhone, according to industry officials and analysts, Tuesday.

As it has always done in previous years, industry watchers expect Samsung to introduce the two new foldable smartphones on Aug. 10, although the company didn't officially confirm it.

Samsung has held its unpacked event for new gadgets only online for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Samsung is likely to hold an offline unpacked event for the new Z Flip and the Z Fold in New York next month.

A Samsung spokesman denied to confirm whether it will actually unveil the devices on Aug. 10 and hold both offline and online events. "Nothing has been decided yet," he said.

Apple's iPhone 13 smartphone / Captured from Apple Korea's webpage

Apple is also expected to unveil the iPhone 14 series on Sept. 13, according to overseas media.

The new iPhone could come in four variations with various colors. Among the variations, a few models, which will probably be the higher-priced ones, are presumed to be without a notch, the part located at the top of the screen that houses multiple sensors.

Industry analysts said Samsung will try to focus more on the foldable phone market to catch up with iPhone, as it has lagged behind the U.S. phone maker.

"Samsung will lower its sales target of the Galaxy A and the Galaxy S series and focus on selling new foldable phones to be released in August," Kim Ji-san, head of research at Kiwoom Securities, said. "Inflation has a more negative impact on the sales of low-priced phones than on high-priced ones," he added.

"In May, the proportion of phones costing more than $600 was the same as the previous month at 19 percent, but low-priced phones worth less than $100 accounted for 26 percent, similar to the lowest level of those products last year. This is disadvantageous for Samsung, which lags behind Apple in the premium phone market," Kim added.

Industry watchers believe that the Z Fold 4 and the Z Flip 4 will be more advanced compared to the previous models.

An exterior screen of the Z Fold 4 is expected to be wider from side to side and the interior screen that appears when unfolded is expected to be longer up and down compared to its predecessor.

As the company drew huge popularity among young consumers thanks to its sleek design with the Z Flip 3, the Z Flip 4 will be similar to the predecessor, but will have larger battery capacity and a slimmer hinge.

baekby@koreatimes.co.kr