As folding phones continue to gain market share on their non-hinged counterparts, there is, of course, a battle within the battle.
Book-like folables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold are vying with the reimagining of the classic flip phone, spearheaded by the Galaxy Z Flip range.
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At least in Samsung’s case, it appears the Flip has built a healthy lead over the Fold in the court of public opinion.
A new report from the company’s South Korean homeland suggests Samsung has crossed the one million pre-order threshold for the company for the first time. That’s up from 970,000 at the same stage last year.
However, the bigger story from Yonhap News’ report (via 9to5Google) says roughly 70% of those pre-orders have been for the Galaxy Z Flip 5, compared with the 30-ish per cent of customers who’ve opted for the new Galaxy Z Fold 5.
While the Flip phones have been more popular than the Fold over the last few years, this is the largest gap between the two form factors thus far. Last year at this stage the gap was 60/40, for instance.
There is the price to consider here too. In the UK the Galaxy Z Flip 5 starts at £1,049, while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is much more expensive at £1,749.
While it makes sense the cheaper phone would sell more volume than what’s pretty much the most expensive phone you can buy right now, the increase in the gap between the two form factors from 60-40 to 70-30 suggests consumers are outright preferring the flippable form factor.
It’s more pocketable, that larger front display is now far more useful than it has been in previous Flip generations, and it’s a much more significant update than over the fourth-gen model. Can the tablet-esque models keep pace?
