00:00 Samsung is ushering in a new generation of foldable devices, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
00:07 I'm here in Seoul for Tom's Guide experiencing everything that Unpacked has to offer,
00:12 including the pleasure of sitting down with Samsung Vice President of Mobile Product Management,
00:16 Drew Blackard, to talk about the new devices and what they mean for Samsung's foldable strategy.
00:21 Thank you for joining me.
00:22 Thank you.
00:23 The redesigned hinge on the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 seem like a big deal.
00:27 Why was that a priority for this generation of devices?
00:30 Well, I think a lot of it starts with when we do a new product, we always want to understand from our current users
00:36 what they love about the device, different pain points they've had and try to resolve those.
00:40 When we think about the hinge specifically, these devices are really about portability and pocketability.
00:46 And so we want to make them slimmer and thinner in each generation.
00:48 And by going to what we call a zero gap hinge, we're able to narrow the device down.
00:52 I actually have one here I can show you where there's literally no gap.
00:56 And that helps from a durability perspective because there's less space for any things in your pocket
01:01 to get in between the device.
01:02 And it also helps from a pocketability and just ergonomics standpoint.
01:07 It's about 2mm slimmer so it feels much better in the hand, in a purse or in a pocket.
01:12 How do you say the latest Z Series generation stands compared to where it started in 2019 with the original Fold?
01:18 Well, it's kind of crazy. This is our 5th generation foldable.
01:21 And so we're really excited about where things have gone in terms of innovation.
01:25 If you think back to where we started, so much has changed.
01:28 I mean, we've really innovated with the cameras.
01:31 The cameras are much more what we would think of as kind of flagship experience.
01:35 The displays have gotten larger.
01:38 The use cases for foldables have become even better and better each generation.
01:44 And with our current Flip, for example, we now have a cover screen, which we call our Flex Window.
01:49 That's about three times larger than the most recent generation.
01:53 If you think back to the first one, there was a very, very small panel where you could just see the time basically.
01:58 And now you have a full interactive display on the front where you can quickly read notifications,
02:03 respond to messages and things like that.
02:05 Do you anticipate the Fold and Flip form factors ultimately persevering?
02:09 Or is there a place for a different kind of flexible smartphone in the near future?
02:13 I think as a starting point, Flip and Fold form factors are showing that there's a lot of interest.
02:18 That said, I think there's continued room for innovation.
02:21 I think the way that I think about it is Fold very much is targeted towards a productivity user.
02:28 You can open what is a 6.2-inch display into a 7.6-inch display,
02:33 so you basically have a tablet-like experience in your pocket, which is a whole different set of use cases.
02:39 For Flip users, it's kind of the opposite.
02:41 It's consumers that want a little less phone at certain points where they can put it in the purse or pocket,
02:47 or they can put it in their phone and they can unfold it into a 6.7-inch display,
02:51 which is basically the size of our S-Series Plus model.
02:55 So you get kind of that big screen experience just when you want it.
02:58 That said, I think Samsung at its core is an innovative company, and we do incredible work with displays.
03:05 So we're always looking just form factor-wise where things go.
03:08 I think for the time being, we think we've got a really good breadth of product
03:12 that attracts just a different range of use cases and different users,
03:16 and we're excited to see where foldable technology goes just in general.
03:19 On that topic, what has Samsung identified as the biggest obstacle to foldable adoption
03:24 and how are you going about addressing it?
03:26 Well, I think with this generation we've identified a couple areas from previous users
03:31 of where we want to innovate on to make the foldable experience more mainstream.
03:35 So one is the form factor itself.
03:37 We talked about it a little bit with the hinge, but the devices themselves are slimmer
03:40 by about 2mm, and so it's easier to fit in the hand.
03:43 For fold specifically, one of the areas that we heard from our fold users is they'd like it to be lighter weight
03:48 so that it's easier to kind of carry around, so it's 10 grams lighter.
03:52 So that's one area in particular, and then the second area is just in general is durability.
03:57 So we know that many consumers are now aware of foldables,
04:02 but they might not have touched and used one for the first time.
04:05 So we want to give peace of mind that someone who is going from a solid piece of glass
04:10 to a flexible display has nothing to worry about.
04:13 And so, again, this is our fifth generation of these, so what we'll be talking about a lot more
04:18 is the innovation in materials and the hinge designs that we have.
04:22 So it has grill glass Victus II, which is an improvement in the glass.
04:27 We're using armor aluminum, so it's super sturdy frame.
04:31 And then our new ZeroGap hinge, which has an all-new design with fewer moving parts
04:35 to make an overall durable product.
04:38 On top of that, we'll also offer some additional benefits to foldable users.
04:43 So our foldables come with a factory-installed screen protector out of the box.
04:49 We'll also offer a free one-time screen protector replacement with that
04:53 and then also discounted screen repairs.
04:55 So for anyone that would potentially have any issues,
04:58 we'll have discounted screen repairs for a one-time repair for users.
05:02 So we're really trying to focus in on that durability is no longer a barrier
05:08 for wanting to try a foldable.
05:10 What is Samsung's predominant strategy for commanding the global market share
05:14 of foldable smartphones with competitions from the like of the Google Pixel Fold
05:18 and Motorola Razr Plus?
05:20 In terms of competition, we really welcome it.
05:22 I think Samsung created the foldable category and as new competitors enter,
05:27 it really just validates that this is a form factor that there's a lot of interest in.
05:31 We announced last year we've sold over 10 million foldables globally.
05:34 That was a year ago, so we've surpassed that since then.
05:37 And we think that the more awareness comes to the category,
05:41 it really puts us in a great position to continue leadership of that category.
05:45 And I think the other area that's so important is foldables because they have
05:49 unique use cases because of the form factor, whether that be on Fold,
05:53 having a multi-window experience where you can have multiple apps open
05:56 at the same time, or on Flip, where we have what we call flex screen experience
06:01 where you're using the device where it's literally kind of flexed in half.
06:06 These are all unique use cases that an ecosystem of app developers
06:10 need to be thinking about.
06:12 So the more devices there are out there, the more unique use cases
06:15 there'll be on foldables and the better the products will be ultimately.
06:18 Do you think that we'll ever see a Galaxy Z Fold FE or Flip FE
06:23 to target shoppers on a tighter budget?
06:26 How can we make foldables more affordable?
06:28 I think that's in terms of just price points, foldables eventually
06:31 will come down to price.
06:33 This year we really focused on resolving the pain points that we saw
06:36 for our current foldable user base.
06:38 So with Fold, a lot of that had to do with the form factor,
06:42 making it slimmer, making it lighter weight, powerful processing,
06:46 our brand new latest processor.
06:48 And on Flip, a lot of that was driven through the flex window
06:52 and some of that cover screen experience.
06:54 And so we're really focused on continuing to refine the experience.
06:57 Of course, over time as the technology evolves, we'll continue to see
07:02 innovation and hopefully bring it down in price point at a future time.
07:06 So the priority first is to refine the product and then from there
07:09 we can talk about bringing the price down.
07:11 Absolutely, because first things first, we need to make sure that
07:14 it's an incredible experience and we want to continue to refine it
07:17 so that it becomes really mainstream in terms of all the use cases
07:21 that you're doing and really the premium aspects of the product.
07:24 And as those get perfected, then we can kind of start thinking about
07:27 how we broaden out the portfolio.
07:30 So Samsung's S-Series is obviously still very popular and still a priority,
07:34 but how do you see the market share splitting between the Z-Series
07:38 foldables and S-Series going forward?
07:41 Well, we've got big goals for foldables.
07:43 Our goal is by 2025 that that's 50% of our global flagship mix.
07:49 And at the moment I would say we're kind of well on our way
07:51 towards that trajectory.
07:53 So as we see foldable adoption grow, what do you think that looks like
07:56 in the future for the foldable market?
07:59 Well, the way I like to think about it is I have twins at home
08:02 that are four and a half years old, and if you just think about
08:05 your own evolution of the phones you've had over the years,
08:09 it would evolve from maybe not having a phone to flip-type phones
08:14 to bar-type phones, they're going to go through that same evolution.
08:18 If you just think forward, whether that be whether they're in high school
08:22 or at some point in my age, they're not going to be carrying around
08:24 a bar-type smartphone.
08:26 It's going to be foldables, it's going to be different form factors.
08:29 I think the innovation that we're seeing today is just the starting point
08:32 and scratching the surface of what's going to be a huge new wave
08:37 of different form factors, and we're really excited to be on the
08:39 cutting edge of that.
08:41 If that's the case, I think we have a lot to look forward to.
08:43 Thank you so much, Drew, for your time.
08:45 Thank you.
08:46 Be sure to check out all of our coverage of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
08:50 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 on tomsguide.com.
08:53 You can also see what we're doing on social, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
08:56 and TikTok @tomsguide. And as always, I'm Kate Kozich. Thanks for watching.
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