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Samsung might release a low-cost foldable next year. A new rumor says that the company is internally testing the feasibility of an FE-series folding phone with a low entry price. If the plans materialize quickly enough, the first-gen model could arrive in late 2024, following the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Samsung has been making foldable smartphones since 2019. The first-gen Galaxy Fold, which was a book-style foldable, had a price tag of $1,980. In 2020, the company launched a clamshell foldable in the form of the Galaxy Z Flip. It was priced at $1,380. That’s much cheaper than the book-style model, but still quite expensive.
Over the years, Samsung’s foldables have improved in quality while the prices of both the Fold and Flip models have gone down. The latest offerings — Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 — arrived on the market a couple of weeks back with price tags of $1,800 and $1,000, respectively. Despite a price drop of a few hundred dollars, the devices remain premium and not everyone can afford them.
While several other OEMs have entered the foldable scene in recent years, the best options are still quite costly. Samsung seemingly wants to bridge this gap with a Fan Edition (FE) model. Its FE-series devices are known to bring flagship-grade specs at a lower price point by removing some premium extra features. The alleged FE-series Galaxy foldable will probably follow the same philosophy.
Unfortunately, details are scarce at the moment. There’s no telling what this phone will offer in terms of specs and design, or how much it will cost. Perhaps Samsung is still evaluating how to go about this plan, if at all. If the company is serious about a Fan Edition low-cost foldable, we should hear more about it in the coming months. Until then, we advise you to take this information with a pinch of salt.
Samsung has big plans for the foldable technology
While there’s no confirmation that Samsung is working on an FE-series foldable, we do know that the Korean firm has big plans for the foldable technology. After phones, the company is now planning to make foldable tablets. TM Roh, the head of Samsung’s mobile business, recently suggested that foldable Galaxy tablets aren’t too far away.
According to Roh, Samsung is investing “a lot of resources” in foldable tablets and laptops. It’s currently developing the foundational technology for these products. Once the company is assured that “the product is ready to provide meaningful innovation to consumers,” it will introduce them. We will have to wait and see if low-cost foldable smartphones are part of its foldable strategy for the future.