Could Samsung be working on a Galaxy Z Fold FE or cheaper foldable phone? I sat down for an interview with Drew Blackard, vice president of mobile product management at Samsung, and asked about what it would take for foldables to become more affordable.
During this one-on-one conversation, Blackard discusses also the biggest upgrades of this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, as well as how Samsung plans to stay competitive in the smartphone market.
During this one-on-one conversation, Blackard discusses also the biggest upgrades of this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, as well as how Samsung plans to stay competitive in the smartphone market.
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00:00 Samsung is ushering in a new generation of foldable devices, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
00:07 I'm here in Seoul for Tom's Guide experiencing everything that Unpacked has to offer,
00:12 including the pleasure of sitting down with Samsung Vice President of Mobile Product Management,
00:16 Drew Blackard, to talk about the new devices and what they mean for Samsung's foldable strategy.
00:21 Thank you for joining me.
00:22 Thank you.
00:23 The redesigned hinge on the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 seem like a big deal.
00:27 Why was that a priority for this generation of devices?
00:30 Well, I think a lot of it starts with when we do a new product, we always want to understand from our current users
00:36 what they love about the device, different pain points they've had and try to resolve those.
00:40 When we think about the hinge specifically, these devices are really about portability and pocketability.
00:46 And so we want to make them slimmer and thinner in each generation.
00:48 And by going to what we call a zero gap hinge, we're able to narrow the device down.
00:52 I actually have one here I can show you where there's literally no gap.
00:56 And that helps from a durability perspective because there's less space for any things in your pocket
01:01 to get in between the device.
01:02 And it also helps from a pocketability and just ergonomics standpoint.
01:07 It's about 2mm slimmer so it feels much better in the hand, in a purse or in a pocket.
01:12 How do you say the latest Z Series generation stands compared to where it started in 2019 with the original Fold?
01:18 Well, it's kind of crazy. This is our 5th generation foldable.
01:21 And so we're really excited about where things have gone in terms of innovation.
01:25 If you think back to where we started, so much has changed.
01:28 I mean, we've really innovated with the cameras.
01:31 The cameras are much more what we would think of as kind of flagship experience.
01:35 The displays have gotten larger.
01:38 The use cases for foldables have become even better and better each generation.
01:44 And with our current Flip, for example, we now have a cover screen, which we call our Flex Window.
01:49 That's about three times larger than the most recent generation.
01:53 If you think back to the first one, there was a very, very small panel where you could just see the time basically.
01:58 And now you have a full interactive display on the front where you can quickly read notifications,
02:03 respond to messages and things like that.
02:05 Do you anticipate the Fold and Flip form factors ultimately persevering?
02:09 Or is there a place for a different kind of flexible smartphone in the near future?
02:13 I think as a starting point, Flip and Fold form factors are showing that there's a lot of interest.
02:18 That said, I think there's continued room for innovation.
02:21 I think the way that I think about it is Fold very much is targeted towards a productivity user.
02:28 You can open what is a 6.2-inch display into a 7.6-inch display,
02:33 so you basically have a tablet-like experience in your pocket, which is a whole different set of use cases.
02:39 For Flip users, it's kind of the opposite.
02:41 It's consumers that want a little less phone at certain points where they can put it in the purse or pocket,
02:47 or they can put it in their phone and they can unfold it into a 6.7-inch display,
02:51 which is basically the size of our S-Series Plus model.
02:55 So you get kind of that big screen experience just when you want it.
02:58 That said, I think Samsung at its core is an innovative company, and we do incredible work with displays.
03:05 So we're always looking just form factor-wise where things go.
03:08 I think for the time being, we think we've got a really good breadth of product
03:12 that attracts just a different range of use cases and different users,
03:16 and we're excited to see where foldable technology goes just in general.
03:19 On that topic, what has Samsung identified as the biggest obstacle to foldable adoption
03:24 and how are you going about addressing it?
03:26 Well, I think with this generation we've identified a couple areas from previous users
03:31 of where we want to innovate on to make the foldable experience more mainstream.
03:35 So one is the form factor itself.
03:37 We talked about it a little bit with the hinge, but the devices themselves are slimmer
03:40 by about 2mm, and so it's easier to fit in the hand.
03:43 For fold specifically, one of the areas that we heard from our fold users is they'd like it to be lighter weight
03:48 so that it's easier to kind of carry around, so it's 10 grams lighter.
03:52 So that's one area in particular, and then the second area is just in general is durability.
03:57 So we know that many consumers are now aware of foldables,
04:02 but they might not have touched and used one for the first time.
04:05 So we want to give peace of mind that someone who is going from a solid piece of glass
04:10 to a flexible display has nothing to worry about.
04:13 And so, again, this is our fifth generation of these, so what we'll be talking about a lot more
04:18 is the innovation in materials and the hinge designs that we have.
04:22 So it has grill glass Victus II, which is an improvement in the glass.
04:27 We're using armor aluminum, so it's super sturdy frame.
04:31 And then our new ZeroGap hinge, which has an all-new design with fewer moving parts
04:35 to make an overall durable product.
04:38 On top of that, we'll also offer some additional benefits to foldable users.
04:43 So our foldables come with a factory-installed screen protector out of the box.
04:49 We'll also offer a free one-time screen protector replacement with that
04:53 and then also discounted screen repairs.
04:55 So for anyone that would potentially have any issues,
04:58 we'll have discounted screen repairs for a one-time repair for users.
05:02 So we're really trying to focus in on that durability is no longer a barrier
05:08 for wanting to try a foldable.
05:10 What is Samsung's predominant strategy for commanding the global market share
05:14 of foldable smartphones with competitions from the like of the Google Pixel Fold
05:18 and Motorola Razr Plus?
05:20 In terms of competition, we really welcome it.
05:22 I think Samsung created the foldable category and as new competitors enter,
05:27 it really just validates that this is a form factor that there's a lot of interest in.
05:31 We announced last year we've sold over 10 million foldables globally.
05:34 That was a year ago, so we've surpassed that since then.
05:37 And we think that the more awareness comes to the category,
05:41 it really puts us in a great position to continue leadership of that category.
05:45 And I think the other area that's so important is foldables because they have
05:49 unique use cases because of the form factor, whether that be on Fold,
05:53 having a multi-window experience where you can have multiple apps open
05:56 at the same time, or on Flip, where we have what we call flex screen experience
06:01 where you're using the device where it's literally kind of flexed in half.
06:06 These are all unique use cases that an ecosystem of app developers
06:10 need to be thinking about.
06:12 So the more devices there are out there, the more unique use cases
06:15 there'll be on foldables and the better the products will be ultimately.
06:18 Do you think that we'll ever see a Galaxy Z Fold FE or Flip FE
06:23 to target shoppers on a tighter budget?
06:26 How can we make foldables more affordable?
06:28 I think that's in terms of just price points, foldables eventually
06:31 will come down to price.
06:33 This year we really focused on resolving the pain points that we saw
06:36 for our current foldable user base.
06:38 So with Fold, a lot of that had to do with the form factor,
06:42 making it slimmer, making it lighter weight, powerful processing,
06:46 our brand new latest processor.
06:48 And on Flip, a lot of that was driven through the flex window
06:52 and some of that cover screen experience.
06:54 And so we're really focused on continuing to refine the experience.
06:57 Of course, over time as the technology evolves, we'll continue to see
07:02 innovation and hopefully bring it down in price point at a future time.
07:06 So the priority first is to refine the product and then from there
07:09 we can talk about bringing the price down.
07:11 Absolutely, because first things first, we need to make sure that
07:14 it's an incredible experience and we want to continue to refine it
07:17 so that it becomes really mainstream in terms of all the use cases
07:21 that you're doing and really the premium aspects of the product.
07:24 And as those get perfected, then we can kind of start thinking about
07:27 how we broaden out the portfolio.
07:30 So Samsung's S-Series is obviously still very popular and still a priority,
07:34 but how do you see the market share splitting between the Z-Series
07:38 foldables and S-Series going forward?
07:41 Well, we've got big goals for foldables.
07:43 Our goal is by 2025 that that's 50% of our global flagship mix.
07:49 And at the moment I would say we're kind of well on our way
07:51 towards that trajectory.
07:53 So as we see foldable adoption grow, what do you think that looks like
07:56 in the future for the foldable market?
07:59 Well, the way I like to think about it is I have twins at home
08:02 that are four and a half years old, and if you just think about
08:05 your own evolution of the phones you've had over the years,
08:09 it would evolve from maybe not having a phone to flip-type phones
08:14 to bar-type phones, they're going to go through that same evolution.
08:18 If you just think forward, whether that be whether they're in high school
08:22 or at some point in my age, they're not going to be carrying around
08:24 a bar-type smartphone.
08:26 It's going to be foldables, it's going to be different form factors.
08:29 I think the innovation that we're seeing today is just the starting point
08:32 and scratching the surface of what's going to be a huge new wave
08:37 of different form factors, and we're really excited to be on the
08:39 cutting edge of that.
08:41 If that's the case, I think we have a lot to look forward to.
08:43 Thank you so much, Drew, for your time.
08:45 Thank you.
08:46 Be sure to check out all of our coverage of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
08:50 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 on tomsguide.com.
08:53 You can also see what we're doing on social, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
08:56 and TikTok @tomsguide. And as always, I'm Kate Kozich. Thanks for watching.
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