Samsung president says "the moment for foldable smartphones is here"

With just weeks to go until the next Samsung Unpacked event on August 10th, 2022, where the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 foldable phones are going to be launched, Samsung president Dr. TM Roh has stated that, "the mainstream moment for foldable smartphones is here".

Speaking in an official Samsung communication, Roh states that since the South Korean maker "introduced the first-ever Galaxy foldable smartphone in 2019", it has "changed the future of our industry ever since", and that last year Samsung shipped a record 10 million foldable smartphones worldwide.

"More importantly," Roh continues, "Samsung Galaxy foldables have changed the way we use mobile devices and helped enable better lifestyles for users worldwide." And that in this year's Z Fold and Z Flip folding phones, Samsung has, "made advancements in every detail and opened the new experiences enabled by these behavior-shifting devices."

Roh concludes his message by stating:

"I can’t wait to show you the potential of our new Samsung Galaxy foldables as the ultimate tool for both productivity and self-expression. Now, you can do more than you ever thought possible, all at once, on one device."

T3 called this, so we're not surprised

Regular readers of T3 will know that we're not only a big fan of Samsung's foldable phones, with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 currently sitting top of our best foldable phones buying guide, but that we've been saying the age of the foldable is now here for quite a while.

As far back as September last year did I myself, writing for T3, say that I was "a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G convert" and was massively enthused to see the phone so "successfully rock state-of-the-art folding screen technology, while also delivering on the looks and internal hardware."

And, mere weeks ago, I also wrote that an epochal shift was coming in the smartphone industry thanks to Samsung's pioneering foldable phone efforts. "Now Samsung's technical leaders each year and, arguably, overall flagship phones, will be foldables not non-folding phones," I said. And now mere weeks later Samsung's own president Dr. TM Roh has stated that, "the mainstream moment for foldable smartphones is here."

T3 always considers itself at the forefront of reporting on technological innovation, though.

What's most exciting is that Roh's comments are actually backed up by numbers, with 10 million foldables shipped worldwide last year, which is a 300% increase on 2020. And judging by just how hot both the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 are sounding ahead of their launch, I can totally see that number continue to climb rapidly into 2023 and beyond.

Exciting times then for Android phone users, and especially Samsung Galaxy fans, but worrying news for Samsung's rivals, who are right now orders of magnitude behind it in terms of foldable phone innovation.