“Juuuusssst a Bit Outside”
Being optimistic is part of the consumer electronics industry mindset, and it carries through to almost every aspect of the business, but an industry that combines both the vagaries of complex electronics and consumer whims, tend to bring some of that optimism back to reality when the realities of a cyclical industry show through. Foldables are a perfect example, as they have been touted by panel producers as the next generation of products that will become so commonplace that the word foldables would not even enter into a discussion. That said, they are, in the display timeline, new, and as such open to all sorts of speculation, estimates and expectations, which are then colored by the hard reality of actual sales, the ultimate metric in CE.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and its affiliate Samsung Display (pvt) have been the biggest proponents of foldable devices, and while not technically the first to release a commercial product, have been the most active in foldable product releases and sales. However, the company has been less than accurate in predicting sales of its foldable offerings and there is a good chance they will miss their target for this year, as they have done in the past. In 2019 Samsung wound up selling only half of the number of foldables it had targeted and last year missed its target by more than 50%. Of course there are specific reasons for each miss, but targets should take into account the potential for any number of possible issues, most of which are similar to issues the industry has faced in the past.
This year’s targets for Samsung foldables are between 6m and 7m units, with much dependent on sales of the company’s ‘3rd’ version of its Galaxy Z Fold and its Galaxy Z Flip expected in August. There are also rumors that Samsung might add a scrollable model at some point this year, but that remains speculation for the near-term as it is not expected to be released with the other two foldables. Targets for this year have even more granularity with the Z-Fold 3 the more important of the two as Samsung believes it has more room for unit volume expansion than the Z Flip, which has less differentiating features to set it apart form others. Thus far Samsung, Huawei (pvt), Motorola () and Xiaomi (1810.HK) have released commercial foldable smartphones.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and its affiliate Samsung Display (pvt) have been the biggest proponents of foldable devices, and while not technically the first to release a commercial product, have been the most active in foldable product releases and sales. However, the company has been less than accurate in predicting sales of its foldable offerings and there is a good chance they will miss their target for this year, as they have done in the past. In 2019 Samsung wound up selling only half of the number of foldables it had targeted and last year missed its target by more than 50%. Of course there are specific reasons for each miss, but targets should take into account the potential for any number of possible issues, most of which are similar to issues the industry has faced in the past.
This year’s targets for Samsung foldables are between 6m and 7m units, with much dependent on sales of the company’s ‘3rd’ version of its Galaxy Z Fold and its Galaxy Z Flip expected in August. There are also rumors that Samsung might add a scrollable model at some point this year, but that remains speculation for the near-term as it is not expected to be released with the other two foldables. Targets for this year have even more granularity with the Z-Fold 3 the more important of the two as Samsung believes it has more room for unit volume expansion than the Z Flip, which has less differentiating features to set it apart form others. Thus far Samsung, Huawei (pvt), Motorola () and Xiaomi (1810.HK) have released commercial foldable smartphones.
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