A new report from Korean publication The Elec suggests that Samsung will reportedly not be launching the Galaxy Z Flip2 – the successor to the Z Flip – along with the Galaxy S21 series. The original Z Flip debuted with the Galaxy S20 series in February last year. The device received a minor refresh in July in the way of a new SoC, bringing support for 5G.
The South Korean company is slated to launch its Galaxy S21 series flagships earlier than the usual schedule and reportedly aims to space out the launch of its foldable phone to avoid any impact on the sales of its traditional flagship. The Z Flip2 is supposedly launching later in the first quarter of the year. Additionally, the firm is also expected to launch the Galaxy Buds Beyond, a likely successor to the Buds+, which is reportedly slated to be offered with the Galaxy S21 series devices.
The report also sheds light on the firm’s possible production plans for the S21 series. The publication notes that the company aims to initially produce six million units, which one of the components supplier terms as “not a confident number”. However, these estimates reportedly match earlier production volumes. The Galaxy S20 series also saw underwhelming sales figures in its launch quarter, thanks to the pandemic and resulting economic difficulties.
The financial uncertainties could explain why the company might want to be cautious with production figures. Additionally, this could also explain the phone maker’s decision to space the launch of its devices, since the marginal difference between the prices of the top-tier Ultra model and the foldable could end up splitting interest between the devices, in turn hurting unit sales of the former.
Lastly, the news outlet adds that the company aims to add up to three more models of its foldable phone lineup to the product mix. There is no information on what these devices could be. Considering that there have been murmurs of a more affordable version of the Z Fold line, the firm could very well be readying lower-tier foldable phones to target a wider audience.
Source: TheElec (Korean)