Samsung is once again mocking Apple for not selling a foldable iPhone, this time with a new World Cup-themed advertisement that claims it’s “time to fold together.” The new ad comes, however, as data from Display Supply Chain Consultants shows that the iPhone 14 lineup took a big chunk out of foldable phone sales, despite the fact that it doesn’t… fold.
Samsung is obsessed with Apple and the iPhone
Apple doesn’t offer a foldable iPhone, and that’s not news to anyone looking to buy a smartphone today. Nonetheless, Samsung has made it a staple of its advertising over the last year. Most recently, the company ran an ad encouraging iPhone users who were “on the fence” to make the jump to Samsung, rather than wait for Apple to “catch up.”
Samsung appears to be running this World Cup-themed ad in various countries around the world, with some users seeing the ad surface on TikTok in particular. The video was posted to one of Samsung’s accounts on Weibo and was spotted first by a user on Twitter. “It’s time to fold together,” the video teases.
In the video, Samsung shows a crowd of smartphones watching a soccer match. The foldable Samsung phones are “doing the wave,” while the iPhones in the crowd can’t partake because they aren’t foldable. It’s a clever ad by Samsung, I’ll admit, at least compared to some of its other attempts at mocking the iPhone.
But despite Samsung’s obsession with mocking the lack of a foldable iPhone, it’s something that consumers seemingly do not care about. In fact, the latest data from analysts at Display Supply Chain Consultants shows that the iPhone 14 is set to take a bit chunk out of foldable phone sales in Q4.
If we look at the regional segmentation, it becomes quite clear that the US market was the problem for Samsung in Q4’22 and it happens right after the iPhone 14 Pro Series launch with its improved cameras and Dynamic Island. While the US accounted for a 29% share of Samsung’s foldable smartphone production in 2021 and a 29% share in Q3’22, it plummeted to just 7% in Q4’22.
Because of this, the DSCC analysts believe that Samsung’s Q4 2022 shipments will be “45% below our previous forecast with its 2022 shipments up 46% to 10.1M units vs. previous expectations of 77% growth to 12.3M units.”
Apple, of course, is rumored to be considering a foldable iPhone. The company thus far, however, hasn’t found the technology to be advanced enough to outweigh the tradeoffs. What do you think? Is it time for Apple to “do the fold” and release a folding iPhone? Let us know down in the comments. Check out Samsung’s ad below.
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