Well, this is… somewhat unusual. With a few weeks most likely still left until Samsung’s next big Unpacked product launch event (which hasn’t been officially scheduled yet), the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 are already starting to make the rumor rounds.
Yes, that’s the fifth iteration of the tech giant’s increasingly successful foldable devices we’re talking about here and not the thoroughly leaked fourth editions expected to (formally) break cover at some point next month.
Naturally, the two next-next-gen mobile powerhouses are likely to be the protagonists of a summer 2023 Unpacked shindig, and even though that means their designs, specs, and upgrades are almost certainly not etched in stone yet,
Samsung has reportedly set a (presumably tentative) shipment goal already.
Is a dip in foldable popularity just around the corner?
While most industry analysts, pundits, and market research firms would probably answer that question with a resounding no, Samsung is bizarrely preparing to sell considerably fewer Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 units next year than Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 copies in late 2022 and beyond.
There are obviously no Z Fold 5 images yet, so here’s a leaked Z Fold 4 render instead.
It’s perhaps needless to remind you that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 were primarily responsible for the
foldable segment’s impressive recent expansion, vastly improving the sales numbers of their more experimental and far less polished forerunners.
The foldable market as a whole is widely expected to continue growing at a steady pace for at least the next few years, which makes it that much weirder to hear that Samsung is bracing for a possible decline in demand as early as 2023.
A resurgent pandemic and rising component costs due to the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war are believed to be among the leading causes of this surprisingly “conservative” target, which can however always change between now and July or August of next year. Samsung might not want to overestimate demand and be left with
millions more unsold devices in stock in 2023, possibly revising its manufacturing strategy to generally play things a little safer.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 specs: super-early expectations and rumors
Believe it or not, ladies and gents,
Korean media thinks a number of specifications can be confidently predicted already for two products that are still at least a year away from an official announcement (
translated here).
And here is a leaked Galaxy Z Flip 4 render.
Both the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip are (prematurely) tipped to pack an as-yet-unannounced
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which, well, kind of feels like a no-brainer prediction. Unless, of course, this chipset proves to be as underwhelming as the Gen 1, forcing Qualcomm to release a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 in time for the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 debut.
Perhaps more interestingly (and less predictably), the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is rumored to come with a 12MP front-facing camera and a primary 50MP rear shooter. The latter is likely to rock an in-house Samsung Isocell GN3 sensor with tiny 1.0 μm pixels and sit alongside two other cameras with unknown specs on the Z Fold 5’s back.
The 50MP news, of course, shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to hardcore Samsung fans keeping up with the
latest Z Fold 4 gossip. The Galaxy Z Flip 5, meanwhile, is almost completely wrapped in secrecy, which, well, makes total sense at this point in time and actually makes us optimistic for a long overdue upgrade from an increasingly boring 12 + 12MP dual rear-facing camera system.
By the way, the Z Flip 5 is expected to be roughly four times as popular as the Z Fold 5, unlike the
Z Fold 4, which is likely to sit a little closer to its
Z Flip 4 cousin in terms of global demand this fall.
