Samsung recently released the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 phones and both have received mostly positive reviews. However, it looks like they aren't setting the world on fire with their sales.
According to a report from noted mobile industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung didn't get as many pre-orders for the most recent foldables as last year. In fact, Kuo reported that Samsung saw a 10% year-over-year decrease from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5.
"Pre-orders in July 2024 were down 10% YoY. Total shipments of Samsung's foldable phones this year are estimated to be around 8–9 million units, down slightly from last year," said Kuo on Medium.
Kuo attributed at least some of the decrease to lacking user experiences with foldable phones, noting that foldable phones have seen sales decrease across the board. "Lower-than-expected shipments of Android foldable phones (from Samsung and Chinese brands) suggest that growth in this segment may be limited in the near term unless the user experience improves significantly," reads the report.
While he said "AI-driven features have led to stronger-than-expected initial demand" for the Galaxy S24, sales of that phone slowed down dramatically in recent months. As such, Kuo projects that the Samsung Galaxy S25 series could see shipments similar to the S24, which would signal a lack of growth for the main flagships.
It's possible that the massive push in AI features hasn't grabbed the more casual smartphone buyer who doesn't get their phones on day one. "Currently, there is no clear evidence that Google and Samsung's ongoing improvements to on-device AI services will trigger another wave of device replacement demand," said Kuo in his report.
It'll be interesting to see how Apple intelligence does with capturing more people into AI. Kuo notes that "market participants remain optimistic about a dramatic increase in smartphone and PC shipments driven by on-device AI." He also examined the other side by saying, "If the iPhone 16 series doesn't exceed expectations due to Apple Intelligence after its release in 2H24, this optimism could be corrected."
Whether the downturn is AI-related or just due to people not being quite ready to spend a large sum on foldable phones, it's clear that something is causing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 to be less popular with phone buyers.
More from Tom's Guide
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review: Buy or skip?
- The best phones you can buy right now
- iPhone 16 rumors: Everything you need to know
