Samsung may position the rumored affordable member of the Galaxy Fold line as a member of its A-series of midrange phones, just in the foldables realm. According to credible leakster Roland Quandt, there are several new internal numbers for upcoming Samsung devices.
He has managed to dig out one SM-F956 model number which should be the Fold 6, and which is codenamed as Q6, as well as the SM-F741 number belonging to the upcoming Flip 6 (or B6). There is also an SM-X828 that should materialize in the summer as the Galaxy Tab S10+, but the most intriguing new internal code is Q6A, belonging to a mysterious member of the Fold family.
Samsung reportedly intended to release a cheaper model in the Galaxy Fold line that would be positioned way below handsets like the Z Fold 6 pricewise. With it, Samsung allegedly wants to counter the Chinese foldables that are flooding the market at lower prices, with thinner designs, and above all, much better camera specs.
In our Z Fold 5 vs OnePlus Open comparison, for instance, Samsung’s foldable appeared outright bulky and lacking camera prowess, and the same goes for foldable phones by Oppo, Huawei, Honor, or Xiaomi. Since Samsung intends to push for 50% share of foldables in its product mix in the next few years, it has identified several points of change it has to make. Last August, when Samsung released the Fold 5, its marketing VP Drew Blackard was quoted as saying:
Foldables eventually will come down in price. This year, we really focused on resolving the pain points that we saw for our current foldable user base. With Fold, a lot of that had to do with making it slimmer, making it lighter weight, powerful processing. And on Flip, that was driven through the Flex Window and that cover screen experience. So we are focused on continuing to refine the experience. Of course, over time, as the technology evolves, we’ll continue to see innovation and hopefully bring it down in price point at a future time.
Samsung has reportedly managed to make the Z Fold 6 slimmer already, and has been developing a cheaper foldable to go with it. Initially rumored to be named the Galaxy Z Fold FE, the Q6A notation might now be placing it in the A-series camp, albeit rather speculatively.
While the rumor is that Samsung will try to position the Z Fold FE or Z Fold A-series pricing near the $1200 mark, it is also said that, unfortunately, Samsung gave up on releasing it this year, so as not to cannibalize the Z Fold 6 sales.
Apparently, the company has also started applying some of the manufacturing cost saving methods it learned during the development of its cheaper foldable to the Fold 6, so hopefully that one will come at a lower price tag when it gets announced this summer, too.
