Samsung’s head of mobile business, Roh Tae-moon, recently explained to The Wall Street Journal why folding phones are so important to the company’s business.
Roh said in the report that Samsung’s foldable phones are attracting three times more brand switchers than Samsung’s regular Galaxy S phones. This means people are moving away from other phone makers, be it Apple, Xiaomi or Oppo, and buying Samsung phones instead.
“We see this as a fairly meaningful percentage and a positive sign,” Roh told The Wall Street Journal. “This is about switchers from other brands, not Samsung Galaxy device users switching to another Galaxy device.”
Samsung on Wednesday unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, the latest versions of its foldable phones. The new phones are folded in half. The larger of the two, the Galaxy Z Fold 4, opens up to reveal a screen the size of a smaller tablet.
Samsung expects to make the potential brand switcher “mainstream,” according to its most recent earnings statement. It aims to surpass the sales of the foldable phone from its previous flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note, in the second half.
Foldable phones remain the fastest growing smartphone product category this year, according to Counterpoint Research, which expects foldable phone shipments to grow 73% to 16 million units.
Counterpoint also found that Samsung accounted for 62% of the foldable market in the first half of this year, although no other smartphone maker ships foldables to as many markets as Samsung. Counterpoint expects Samsung to have 80% of the market in the second half of the year.