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Samsung will unveil a new batch of devices, including the foldable Galaxy Z Flip smartphone; Home Depot, a home improvement retailer, has announced it will hire 80,000 employees for the busy spring season.
Samsung is hoping that cheaper but more durable versions of its foldable phones will broaden the appeal of a premium design that has so far fizzled out with consumers.
The electronics giant kicked off its efforts to turn the tide on Wednesday with two new products designed to work both as a phone and, when unfolded out on a hinge, as a tablet.
The larger Galaxy Fold3 has a 7.6-inch display when unfolded and will sell for $ 1,800, a 10% drop from last year’s model. The other device, the Galaxy Flip3, looks more like a flip phone, but can still be opened from its flip position to a 6.7-inch screen. It will sell for $ 1,000, more than 25% less than the price of the original model last year.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 is on display on Monday August 9, 2021 at Samsung KX in London. (AP Photo / Tristan Werkmeister / AP Newsroom)
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Along with the new phones, Samsung has also unveiled its first software-powered smartwatches designed in tandem with Google as the two companies try to catch up with Apple in this part of the wearable tech market.
Since releasing its first foldable phones in 2019, Samsung has touted the technology as a breakthrough that will make more consumers splurge on new phones instead of keeping older devices until they wear out. or switch to new models that have most of the same functionality.
But foldable phones have barely made a ripple in the smartphone market, with around 2 million devices shipped last year, according to research firm International Data Corp. That’s a tiny fraction of the nearly 1.3 billion smartphones shipped worldwide last year, IDC said. .
From left to right, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 and Fold 3 are displayed on Monday, August 9, 2021 at Samsung KX in London. (AP Photo / Tristan Werkmeister / AP Newsroom)
“What has really held back the mass consumption of these foldable devices is the high price,” said Nabila Popal, analyst at IDC. “Most people really don’t see the need for it. At least nothing that justifies the extra thousand dollars.”
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Popal believes Samsung’s lower prices for its latest foldable phones are still too much more than most consumers are willing to pay for phones. This is one of the reasons that IDC expects only a slight increase in foldable phone shipments this year, to around 6-7 million devices.
Besides the high prices, sales have been held back by doubts about the ability of foldable devices to withstand the wear and tear that traditional smartphones typically endure. These concerns have eclipsed Samsung’s foldable lineup since it delayed the release of the first models in 2019 to address issues with bulging screens and flickering displays.
A person demonstrates the Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 on Monday August 9, 2021 at the Samsung KX in London. (AP Photo / Tristan Werkmeister / AP Newsroom)
Samsung has equipped its latest foldable phones with more durable glass and water resistance to reduce the risk of damage to devices. It made foldable phones compatible with its popular S Pen stylus for the first time to appeal to customers accustomed to using the digital writing tool on traditional Samsung Note and Galaxy phones.
Another sign of the progress of foldable phones, nearly 50 of the top 100 mobile apps are now available for its unique format, said Drew Blackard, vice president of product management at the South Korean company.
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These improvements have encouraged Samsung to make foldable phones its flagship products in the second half of the year, supported by a marketing campaign that will hail their benefits.
A person demonstrates the ability of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 to display two apps at once on Monday August 9, 2021 at Samsung KX in London. (AP Photo / Tristan Werkmeister / AP Newsroom)
Blackard compared Samsung’s third-generation foldable phones to the company’s third-generation Note phones, released in 2013, and changed the perception of a product line initially mocked for introducing smartphones with five-inch screens. . Over the next year, Apple released the first model of its forward-thinking iPhones with larger screens which have now become standard feature.
But Apple still hasn’t felt compelled to make an iPhone with a foldable display.
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