Samsung Has Sold 1 Million Galaxy Fold Smartphones

An anonymous reader shares a report: Today at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, Samsung Electronic's President Young Sohn revealed the company has sold 1 million foldable Galaxy Fold smartphones. Estimates from October pegged sales at that time at 500,000 units. "And I think that the point is, we're selling [a] million of these products," Sohn said. "There's a million people that want to use this product at $2,000." Today's conversation at Disrupt Berlin focused around growth through innovation. Sohn commented on the sales number while explaining Samsung's process of releasing products to get feedback. He said, in part, if they kept devices like the Fold in labs, they wouldn't get the input they needed.

Total BS

[110010001000]

Sure you did. And Microsoft has sold tens of millions of Surface laptops. Just no one has seen any.

Re:

[Tablizer]

They are right next to the 1983 ET game cartridges.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

I see a lot of surface laptops around. They are very popular, especially in business settings.

Re:

[Joce640k]

Sure you did. And Microsoft has sold tens of millions of Surface laptops. Just no one has seen any.

Just because you don't have a job doesn't mean offices aren't full of them. I see quite a few of them among people who do real work and want to run Windows software on something very portable.

Re:

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

You're kidding right?

In the corporate world, Surface laptops are everywhere, the sort of C-level exec douchebag who was walking around circa 2014 with an ipad with a keyboard case is now walking around with a Surface.

And dragging back to on-topic, why on earth wouldn't you think foldable phones won't sell like hotcakes? As soon as they sort out the reliability / durability & the price comes down, I'll be buying one. Even if the only vendor is Samsung (who's phones and software I hate with a passion), I'

yeah sure

[bobmagicii]

including all the promo and replacement units, sure.

Customer Bend-in

[Tablizer]

They actually sold to only 500,000 customers, and when theirs broke, they bought another.

I'm not surprised

[SuperKendall]

I can see a lot of people liking the unique design and having the ability to have a portable large screen.

It also goes to show that the upper limit on mobile devices may be quite a bit higher than people have thought. That too makes sense when you realize how much people rely on and use phones for everything now.

I'm glad Samsung has pushed forward something truly unique in the market despite risks, it makes the whole phone market way more interesting.

Re:

[timeOday]

Exactly, it's more than I'd spend, but at least it's a genuine innovation and a distinct advantage.

Everybody is so cranky about tech in here.

It is true

[WillAffleckUW]

A sucker is born every minute.

Re:

[Anubis IV]

You assume too much. The phone has been out for about 100 days at this point, so that’s an average of 10,000 phones sold per day. Taking into account the rate at which this thing apparently needs to be replaced due to malfunction and breaking, I figure that they have about 5-10 die hard fans among the billionaire club. It’s the most plausible explanation, based on the numbers.

Re:

[Joce640k]

Taking into account the rate at which this thing apparently needs to be replaced due to malfunction and breaking,

Citation needed.

Hooray

[DrXym]

There are (if Samsung are to be believed) 1 million idiots in the world prepared to drop a fortune for these shitty devices. That definitely validates this technology.

The moral of the story is that...

[OpenSourced]

You can always find people willing to pay just to have the most expensive gadget available, as long as it's easily recognizable. We are dumb that way.

Re:

[lactose99]

The glasshole phenomena confirms this.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

I was hoping that the price put people off so that they concentrate on making a cheaper model next year. At least other manufacturers are making cheaper folding phones now and the concept seems to have caught on.

The Galaxy Fold looks kinda cheap though. It's the plastic screen, it's a fingerprint magnet and looks like a â1 eBay screen protector. Hopefully that folding Gorilla Glass arrives soon.

Re:

[markdavis]

>"I was hoping that the price put people off so that they concentrate on making a cheaper model next year"

Oh, that will come. The million they sold are likely to have saturated that niche market at that insane price. Sales will likely start to plummet, and prices will necessarily drop. Plus they will learn more about how their product performed, what people like/don't, and come out with improvements and other models. Pretty standard stuff.

I can say, I would be interested in such a product, assuming i

Re:

[jezwel]

If it gets cheap enough it may replace x86 devices - Dex dock w/ monitor KB & mouse + virtual PC (if needed) + large enough screen for use in meetings + phone capabilities, could remove the PC + phone setups we have today.

Re:

[narcc]

I've been saying that for 20 years, but I'm not sure I think it's a good thing anymore. The idea was probably already dead once the smartphone replaced the PDA. I very often need to use my computer while I'm on the phone, and I've never been very comfortable with bluetooth accessories. I'm not even sure how that would work if I were to answer a call while away from my desk and then needed to 'switch over' to access my computer for one reason or another.

I see current attempts, like Project Linda and NexDo

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

I wonder if they were at that $2000 price point though, or if a lot of people got them on contact with hidden discounts to the network. Often you find phones have a silly RRP but work out much cheaper on contract even with the service costs on top.

Re:

[enigma32]

*They are dumb that way.

FTFY.

Re:

[thegarbz]

Or maybe, just maybe some people have disposable income and want the only smartphone on the market with such a large screen which folds and fits in your pocket.

That you don't want / need / can't afford something doesn't make someone else dumb. That you think they are dumb is only a reflection on you.

Re:

[twocows]

We are dumb that way.

The correct pronoun here is "they." I'm not dumb enough to buy that shit and I'd hope you aren't, either.

Beta test

[AK Marc]

https://pandaily.com/huawei-se... [pandaily.com]
Samsung sells 1M $2,000 phones? And planning on sustaining 500,000 per month for the next year?

Also their investor release essentially says they release a beta phone to generate "catch up" among competitors, and intend to sell the 500,000 a month of their own, and sell millions more of the displays to competitors, but don't give numbers. So the end users are beta testing, not for the next phone, but for Samsung's competitors.

At least Huawei is making their own screen

Obligatory Dilbert Cartoon

[williamyf]

https://dilbert.com/search_res... [dilbert.com]

Terminology

[Waccoon]

Sold... or shipped?

Re:

[Solandri]

That's a common misconception that shipped units does not equal sold units. They're almost always equal. Shipped units that do not initially sell get marked down, have rebates run on them, etc. until they do sell. Often these discounts are run through the retailer to reduce shipping costs. But sometimes the retailer sends crates of unsold units back to the manufacturer, who then sells them through a liquidator. So unless your product is so horrendously bad that you have to bury it in a landfill becomes [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[Anubis IV]

Sold... or shipped?

Neither, as it turns out. Samsung's president was confused and incorrectly stated their sales target as the number they had actually sold.

https://www.thurrott.com/hardw... [thurrott.com]

What about the EU?

[gnasher719]

In the EU, a device like this has to last for a reasonable amount of time, which would usually be two years. If it is sold on a three year contract, probably three years. The first round of devices broke within a week. So I really see a an awful lot of repair cost arriving at Samsung's door step.

Re:

[thegarbz]

Samsung is offering extended repair warranties for the screen as standard even outside of the EU so I don't know what your point is.