Samsung’s Foldable Phones and the Cost of Dominance

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 & Z Flip 4 are incremental updates in a smartphone niche that should be dominated by innovation and outside-of-the-box ideas

This week Samsung unveiled its fourth generation of foldable phones the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4. There does not seem to be much difference between this year’s version and last year’s version (the classic battery life and processor upgrades are notwithstanding). Having an incremental upgrade with a foldable lineup strikes me as especially odd, this is supposed to be the growth and innovation sector of an otherwise dull smartphone market after all. This strategy is indicative of a company that fancies itself the victor in the foldable race and sees no need for aggressive innovation anymore.

The Dominant Galaxy

It feels a bit strange to call foldables the wave of the future or the bleeding edge of innovation. It has been nearly three years since Samsung unveiled the first generation Galaxy Z Fold. For Samsung, this is starting to feel like a product line that is inching towards the maturity stage of its life cycle. The company invested and bet on the form factor of the phone…