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Industry analysts predict that Google will join the foldable phone market this year.
Google's entry is expected to serve as a positive factor for Samsung Electronics, as it will expand the foldable phone market, which is being dominated by Samsung.
Samsung Electronics uses displays from its subsidiary Samsung Display, which enjoys a 90 percent share of the global foldable display market. As Samsung Electronics is taking the lead in foldable phones, the expansion of the foldable market will naturally play out in its favor.
Google is expected to release foldable phones this year under the name of the Pixel Fold or the Pixel Notepad.
Foreign media outlets pointed to Android 12L, a new operating system unveiled in 2021, as the basis for Google’s launch of a foldable phone. 9to5Google explained that it found an animation file showing how to insert a SIM card into a foldable phone in Android 12L Beta 2, confirming that the SIM card slot in Pixel Fold was on the bottom. Based on this, it predicted that there will be a small external display on the Pixel Fold.
CNET also paid attention to Google’s Android 12L. Last year, Google unveiled the Android 12L beta version, saying that the new version came out with a number of new functions for foldable phones such as foldable applications and next-generation multitasking. It analyzed that this was a step to prepare for the launch of its foldable phone in the future, while at the same time giving support to Samsung Electronics’ foldable phones.
Google has only developed operating systems for smartphones, leaving it up to manufacturers to change them to suit foldable phones or tablet PCs. It did not provide any support to Samsung Electronics, which fiercely competed with Apple in the world tablet PC market.
However, nothing is clearly known about Google’s entry into the foldable phone market. Only various rumors are going around about the launch of a Google foldable phone. In 2021, market research firm Display Supply Chain Consulting (DSCC) quoted a source inside Google as saying, “Google has decided to give up the Pixel Fold Project.” In addition, IT media outlet Phone Arena reported that it would be better for Google to delay the release of a foldable phone than to hurriedly release an incomplete product.
Competition is expected to heat up in the foldable phone market if Chinese companies such as Huawei and Oppo and Google enter the foldable phone market. However, a prevailing opinion is that Samsung Electronics’ position will become stronger in the foldable phone market if competition intensifies.
YouTube and social media (SNS) channels are studded with posts comparing foldable models from Samsung Electronics and China’s Huawei. Among them, a video comparing the fixing power of the Galaxy Z Flip 3’s and the P50 Pocket’s hinges, unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 3 whose hinge is fixed at any angle, that of the P50 Pocket does not stand on its own and folds or unfolds. In addition, an image posted by a P50 Pocket user points out the weak durability of the device’s display.
Samsung Electronics created a new market segment by releasing a foldable phone in 2019, in eight years since the release of a flexible display prototype in 2011. However, it exposed waterproof and dustproof and display durability issues and failed to receive good market responses. As of 2020, the foldable phone market size was only about two million units.
Although Samsung Electronics came in for internal and external criticism, it has been improving its foldable phones by releasing new models every year. Many industry analysts say that Samsung Electronics led the popularization of foldable phones through the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 3 launched in August 2021. As of the end of 2021, sales of Samsung Electronics’ foldable phone series such as the Galaxy Z Fold and the Flip 3 more than quadrupled from 2020. Earlier, Counterpoint Research, a market research firm, predicted that the foldable phone market will grow about three times in 2021 compared to the previous year, which means that the Korean smartphone giant exceeded the forecast.
As Samsung Electronics virtually enjoys a monopoly on the global foldable phone market, its sales figure is nearly as high as that of the global foldable phone market. Counterpoint Research predicted that the foldable phone market hit 9 million units in 2021, and Samsung Electronics took a share of about 90 percent. Although Samsung Electronics did not disclose its specific sales figure, the industry estimates it at eight million units in 2021.
The fact that Samsung Electronics has unrivaled technology in displays which hold the key to production of foldable phones is also considered a factor that will further solidify its position in the foldable phone market. Huawei’s P50 pocket which has been embroiled in controversy over quality is using displays from BOE in China. Omdia, a market research firm, predicted that this year’s foldable display shipments will reach 20 million units. Market research institutes estimate Samsung Display’s share in the foldable display market at over 90 percent.