TM Roh, President and Head of MX Business, Samsung Electronics said that the reason they got into the foldables space is because it was natural that people would want to use foldable smartphones 
TM Roh, President and Head of MX Business, Samsung Electronics said that the reason they got into the foldables space is because it was natural that people would want to use foldable smartphones Samsung launched its first foldable smartphone, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, back in 2019. The company received a mix bag of reviews as first movers, but have since firmly cemented their place as market leaders in this segment.
Speaking to Tech Today on the sidelines of Galaxy Unpacked in Seoul, South Korea, the President and Head of MX Business at Samsung Electronics, TM Roh recounted the initial reactions and the vision behind introducing foldable phones.
Roh revealed that the company was confident that foldable devices will not be limited to a niche market. He stated, “We were convinced and were confident that it was not going to be a product only for the niche market. We believed that it was going to be an important player in the premium mobile market.” With other companies getting into the foldable space, Roh reveals that Samsung’s conviction has proved to be true.
He further added that the reason they got into the foldables space is because it was natural that people would want to use foldable smartphones. He said, “When you also look at the human history of using tools or human history of living, then, for example, books or notebooks, what do you do? You open them to read it or write something on it, and when not in use or when on the move, then you close them to make them more portable.”
That is when the company decided to come up with a foldable handset, something that can show large amounts of information and is portable at the same time. He explained, “On one hand, people wanted to have large screens and more information but they also wanted to have the portability. In other words, if it were to be folded, then we would also have the portability. And also, by folding it, it could protect what is important inside.”
Talking about the innovation in the foldable space, Roh said that the company will continue to fulfil users’ demands. He stated, “The customers will keep using our product, and they will keep coming up with new demands, new needs and therein arise the need for further innovation.”
“And if more consumers in India were to use our foldable and flip to provide us with more needs and more demands, better ideas for innovation, then, of course, we'll incorporate them into the direction of our innovation. So, I hope that we can also get that support from India,” he added.
Roh believes that the company's objective is to raise its current market share from 35 per cent to 50 per cent in the super premium segment in India through the introduction of the Galaxy Fold 5 and Galaxy Flip 5.
In terms of India pricing, the Fold 5 will be priced between ₹1.54 lakh and ₹1.85 lakh and the Flip 5 (which seems to be the real crowd puller this time around) will be priced between ₹99,999 and ₹1,09,999.
(The writer was in Seoul at the invitation of Samsung.)
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