Phonemakers Not Named Apple Are in Love With Foldable Phones
The devices provide more screen in similar sizes—and a way to offer something new in a stagnating market.
A Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphone (left) at a Samsung event in Seoul on July 26.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
For years, every Apple iPhone event seemed like a radical step forward for smartphones, sending waves of people to upgrade and competitors scrambling to catch up. That urgency has faded as the pace of change in smartphones has slowed, whether measured by the form or function of each new device. The iPhone 15 that Apple Inc. introduced on Sept. 12 doesn’t look much different from the iPhone 12 from 2020.
As a result, every major phonemaker not named Apple sees an opportunity to steal some of the excitement normally reserved for the undisputed champion in high-end smartphone design. Largely, they’ve settled on the same strategy—phones that fold. “Foldables are the future,” says Billy Zhang, president of overseas sales and services at the Chinese company Oppo, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker by shipments.