Samsung launches Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5. Source: Supplied

“Galaxy Flip plays into a bygone era that Gen Z didn’t live through but knows of. Youth are hugely influential in driving the buying pressure upwards… getting their parents to buy the phone that will trickle down to them in a year,” Justin Hume, local vice president of Samsung Mobile, told Bizcommunity at the launch.

The official launch – Galaxy Unpacked – was held in Seoul, Korea while the local markets held livestream events with product experiences for selected media. Cracker Zac’s was transformed into an experience centre where the devices were displayed between the arcade machines.

The local launch held at Cracker Zac's, Rosebank. Source: Lindsey Schutters

Samsung South Africa is leaning into the nostalgia trend and evoking memories of flip phones for its Galaxy Z Flip5 marketing campaign in a bid to appeal to a wider range of buyers.

“There’s a nostalgia trend right now and you can see it with the success of the Barbie movie and the clothing styles that are popular right now. We’re telling older South Africans that it’s okay to join in and celebrate the old days again,” Hume concludes.

This marketing approach echoes the words of BS Hong, president and CEO of Samsung Africa, to open the event: “60% of Africa is under the age of 25, and today’s launch products will better serve this market”.

Category growth

Samsung’s bet on changing consumer sentiment towards foldables is based on the massive increase in category sales. Counterpoint Research indicated a 64% year-on-year sales growth for the category in the first quarter of 2023 with around 2.5 million devices shipped globally.

And this comes when the overall global smartphone market slumped by 14.2% in the same period.

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While these sales are mostly driven by the expanding appetite for folding phones in China, it is a legitimate growth in market share that cannot be overlooked. Chinese phone makers have also ramped up production to meet this demand with Huawei, Oppo and Vivo all releasing competing products.

Google launched the Pixel Fold this year in response, and as a show of commitment to the Android device manufacturers indicating that these devices will see significant improvement in software stability and features in the future.

While Samsung still commands a sizeable lead in the market by virtue of being an early mover in the product category, critics are quick to point out the Korean company’s slow pace of innovation of the original form factor.

“We welcome the competition because it brings more legitimacy to the foldables category,” concludes Hume.

Samsung South Africa Galaxy Z Flip5 brand positioning. Source: Lindsey Schutters

Price increase

From a design perspective Galaxy Fold5 recycles its predecessor’s dimensions, only adding in the new hinge for a more flat fold – as opposed to the wedge profile and noticeable gap of the Fold4. Galaxy Z Flip5 gains a 3.4-inch cover display (called Flex Window), which brings it in line with global competitors from Motorola and Oppo.

Both devices get significant price increases, though. Galaxy Z Flip5 starts at R29,999 for the 256GB storage model, and Z Fold5 will retail from R45,999. That’s up from last year’s respective R21,999 and R37,999 base prices – which were 128GB storage options.

The price increases are in line with a similar jump from Apple on the iPhone 14 series and could be attributed to the premium pricing of the 4nm chipsets fabricated on the TSMC process – Qualcomm sourced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from Samsung and found the thermal management and power efficiency to be below the TSMC standard.

Samsung trade-in deals include contract price reductions. Source: Lindsey Schutters

Pre-orders for Galaxy Z Fold5 and Flip5 open next week and there are numerous trade-in offers available for early buyers.