TechAltarI keep hearing from a very loud group of people that "nobody wants foldables" and yet every statistic I see says the exact opposite
Source:
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/global-foldable-smartphone-shipments-2027
In case you are wondering, I was at the Samsung Fold event where a group of tech journalists ridiculed the idea of foldables overall, saying nobody will pay this price & that the specs are worse than on an S23 Ultra, hence they can't possibly be attractive to anyone. Sure, not everyone will want one, but people need to pull heir heads out of their asses
Dan@Techaltar the same things were said about large phones or "phablets" as they were called at the time. Look at the size of phones...
@dan there are people even today who will tell you that secretly everyone only wants small phones
@Techaltar the only person I know that would agree with that is my wife. I'm not sure what she will do if Apple increases the size of their SE models.
pbj@Techaltar @dan I wouldn’t say everyone wants small phones, but there are definitely a lot of people who want them, either because they want to be able to comfortably use them one handed, or they want a phone that comfortably fits in their pockets without jutting out. In the latter case, folding phones in the “flip” form factor are perfect…
Geniusak@Techaltar @dan because of how the market works out I think more people want small phones than it appears.
Foldables, it seems are the same. Most people just haven't tried one yet
Eduard-Cristian Boloș 🇷🇴🇪🇺@Techaltar I think that this survey is a bit deceiving though. For instance, I am also willing to get a foldable, *but* none of the current ones appease me, so I won't. But sure, if the technology evolves and there'll be more options to choose from, maybe one day I'll get one.
@EdyBolos Agreed! It's just people saying that they would be interested in them in theory. Still, that should eventually end up in some of them buying the phones
Dean Styles@Techaltar Is this reflected in sales numbers? Big difference between 'would buy' and actually buying the device.
Have they got the screens sorted out yet, or is the crease in them still causing issues?
I'm happy with my Pixel 7 Pro 👍
@deanstyles As the article says, we're at 18.6m expected this year, which is 5% of all premium (600 USD+ sales) this year. Given that literally every major Android brand is building at least one I think it's fairly obvious that they expect this to continue growing
@Techaltar Well I guess we'll see how those projected sales play out... especially outside of China. It looks like there's been solid growth in China but not as strong elsewhere.
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/global-foldable-smartphone-market-continues-expand-underpinned-china/
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/global-foldable-smartphone-market-continues-expand-underpinned-china/
Matt Daines@Techaltar I personally sit in the no camp. Doesn't mean I won't ever consider one. I watch with interest, though from a distance. I'm not in the market for a new phone yet.
Other than the price of the damn things my concern is durability - it has to last 3 years, and app support.
Piko Starsider 
@Techaltar Did they specify whether it's about phones that unfold into a tablet, or phones that fit unfolded in your pocket? I think it's an important distinction because I don't see the point in the latter. At all.
Homo Particeps@Techaltar ”Don't ever trust statistics that you haven't falsified yourself“
Rémi Dupré@Techaltar since the beginning my opinion was that without compromise (durability & price) this sounds like a great feature. However I am not glad this were the smartphone industry pushes innovation, I would prefer a focus on durability but I don't think it would sell as much.