One Year of Foldables: Are They Still a Gimmick?
A year after the redesigned Galaxy Fold shipped, foldables are more real but still a small, pricey niche.
It’s been about a year since Samsung’s redesigned Galaxy Fold actually made it into people’s hands, after the embarrassing screen-crease debacle delayed the original launch. So, twelve months on, is this category anything more than an expensive party trick?
The honest answer: it’s better than a gimmick, but it’s nowhere near mainstream. Look at what’s actually on the market right now. You’ve got the Galaxy Z Flip, which took the folding idea and shrank it down into a clamshell that fits in a pocket like an old flip phone. You’ve got Huawei’s Mate Xs, an outward-folding tablet-phone hybrid that most people outside China have never held. And just recently, Motorola brought back the Razr name with a 5G version, leaning hard into nostalgia for anyone who remembers flipping open a phone to answer a call in 2004.
None of these are selling in numbers that would make a top-ten phone list. They’re halo products — expensive, low-volume, aimed at early adopters and people who want to be seen with the newest thing. That’s not a knock necessarily; plenty of good technology starts out that way. But a year in, foldables still haven’t crossed the line from “fascinating demo” to “phone your coworker just happens to own.”
Why the niche status persists
Price is the obvious barrier. These devices cost multiples of a solid flagship phone, and for that money most buyers still want a proven, durable slab. Durability itself is the second issue — folding glass and plastic hinges are inherently more fragile than a single sheet of Gorilla Glass, and even a year later, that perception (fair or not) hasn’s gone away.
There’s also the question of what problem foldables actually solve. The Fold’s pitch — a phone that unfolds into a small tablet — is neat, but most people don’t feel starved for screen space on their current phone. The Razr and Z Flip make a better case: compact carry with a big screen when you need it. That’s a more relatable value proposition, even if the software and app scaling on these devices is still catching up.
Is momentum building anyway?
I’d say yes, cautiously. The fact that three different companies now have distinct takes on the format — big-screen unfold, compact clamshell, outward-fold tablet — suggests this isn’t a one-off stunt from a single manufacturer chasing headlines. Manufacturing processes for flexible displays and hinges are maturing, which should eventually bring prices down.
Whether foldables become a real mainstream category or settle into a permanent niche like rugged phones probably depends on the next generation or two. If durability improves and prices drop meaningfully, I could see this shifting. For now, though, call it “promising but unproven” — genuinely interesting hardware that most people still have zero practical reason to buy.