Were you thinking of falling for a folding Samsung phone in the coming months? You’ll probably have to dig a big hole in your bank account for that.
Rumors around a more affordable Galaxy Z Fold 6 seem to have fizzled out. While rumors in the corridors suggested the possibility of seeing Samsung’s star folding smartphone arrive with a lighter addition, this will (a priori) not be the case. The often knowledgeable site Smartprix believes in fact that the future Samsung phone would further increase its price.
After a Galaxy Z Fold 5 already sold for €100 more than its predecessor, Samsung is preparing to do the same again. According to Smartprix, the base model of the Z Fold 6 (i.e. the one with 256 GB of storage) could cost $1,899.99 in the United States. In gross conversion, this is certainly equivalent to 1750 euros and wheelbarrows, but taxes and other French marketing costs could actually increase the price to €2000 in France.
An increase of at least €100
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 was in fact sold for $1,800 in the United States and €1,899 here. If we are to believe Samsung’s history, a $1900 phone should therefore quietly reach €2000 here, for its basic version once again. A price with which Samsung had not reconnected since the first and second Z Fold of the name, sold for €2,020 at the time of their releases.
It now seems clear that Samsung is adopting a two-tier strategy for its folding smartphones. The Z Flip would embody the “affordable” folding offer from the Korean giant (with prices still around €1,000) while the Fold is intended to show what Samsung knows how to do best in this category, even if it means blowing up prices. price beyond what many can afford to invest in a smartphone.
A Fold 6 which remains a niche product
This assumed strategy of “premiumization” (we invented this word) is consistent with the rest of the market which has recently tended to inflate the price of the most high-end mobiles. At Apple for example, the move from the iPhone 13 Pro Max to the 14 Pro Max was accompanied by an increase of €200.
But if this approach is understandable for the “classic” smartphone market which has been well established for 15 years, it is more difficult to defend for the still embryonic segment of folding mobiles. It’s difficult to democratize use with prices like that. Certainly, the competition now produces much cheaper folding smartphones and the Flip serves as a gateway to the folding world of Samsung, but as it stands, folding phones still remain a fad of wealthy people.
