Foldable Phones Might Not What You Think They Are

Aadhya Khatri - Feb 27, 2019

Foldable phones might not be designed for the general mass. They are more devkits than something a typical person would use.

The debut of foldable phones has been startling the world for both the producing technique coming into them and their ridiculously high price tags. Samsung prices its Galaxy Fold at €2,000 and Huawei even asks for more than that for its Mate X, with €2,300.

Huawei Mate X Hands On Mwc 2019 17 — The Mate X from Huawei

However, the foldable phones we are seeing now are not exactly for the general mass. In fact, its hefty price will become more reasonable if you think of these phones as devkits.

Foldable phones can well be a useful tool for developers and if they have decided to but one, the price is not exactly expensive.

Conquering foldable phones will serve as a step for developers to ensure that their apps have a seamless flow from the small screen of a smartphone to a tablet. Even if not many people can afford one of such phones right now, the future for the invention to hit a mass market is bright.

When Samsung and Huawei have regained the money they spent to develop the foldable phones, they will surely find a way to bring it to the general mass with a reduced price. That future is secured for sure because when it happens, other companies will try to copy the design and the technology, further pressure the two tech giants to decrease the price. To have a clear idea of how quickly a copycat phone will be manufactured, just look at how Shenzhen took the notched screen from Apple in 2017.

And if that reason is not enough for you, Huawei had said it themselves that foldable phones belonged to a development kit, in an undirected way. That is a guess but with solid proof. In a recent conference, Huawei executive did not confirm when being asked whether the company intended to mass produce the phone. That kind of attitude can surely raise questions.

With the price like this, the number of buyers for Galaxy Fold and Mate X might not be so large but they seem to be totally fine with that. As Samsung and Huawei are experts at what they are doing, we have enough reasons to believe that foldable phones will be mass produced in the future.