After months of hype, yesterday Samsung released the world’s first folding phone, the Galaxy Fold.
The Fold got mixed reviews from early users. But early reactions aren’t always a good litmus test when it comes to consumer tech.
The frontier of foldables
The Fold features several eye-popping numbers: The phone has 2 touchscreens, 6 cameras, a 7.3-inch display… and a $1,980 price tag (even more than Apple’s XS-ive starting iPhone price of $1,099).
Rival phonemakers have “teased” their own foldable prototypes for months — Xiaomi and Lenovo both leaked their prototypes, and Huawei claims to be on track to release its foldable this year.
But now that Samsung has won the race to get a product to market, the next big question is obvious: Will consumers pay $2k for a phone that is also a tablet?
Now, we wait to see how consumer tastes unfold
Many people praised the phone’s features (the phone can run 3 apps simultaneously on its larger screen), but others ridiculed the phone’s massive price tag and unusual design.
But even though consumers often don’t like change at first, the market has a short memory: Apple’s Airpods were widely mocked when released 2 years ago, but now they’re a massive success that many users can’t imagine living without.
Despite the flurry of angsty tweets, Samsung could have the last laugh as the future unfolds.
