Unofficial renders of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z series foldables have started showing up online, which indicate that we are possibly nearing the launch. However, Samsung has yet to officially drop any hints about the launch. Still, there's more news from the rumour mill, this time coming from a publication which claims that Samsung will not only launch its Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 earlier in July, but also launch it in a new location, Paris.
According to a Korean publication TheBell, Samsung will launch or announce its 6th generation Galaxy Z foldables in mid-July. This is a bit different from a more recent leak by SamMobile which claimed that the foldables will be announced in early July instead. According to the Korean publication, the new launch timeline is about 3-4 weeks earlier than Samsung's usual Galaxy Z series launch. The South Korean giant is reportedly doing this to target the European market and the launch also happens to fall in line with the 2024 Summer Olympics which takes place in Paris (France) on July 26.
As for the location, it too is a bit unusual, but the reasons given above seem to back this up well. Samsung has traditionally held its Galaxy Z series Unpacked events in the US. Last year was an exception with Samsung holding the launch event in its home market, Seoul (South Korea).
There's also new information about the rumoured cheaper variant of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. As per a recent report, Samsung is expected to announce a new ‘Ultra' model of the Galaxy Z Fold, adding another tier to its foldables lineup this year. While this new model is said to have a new design with better camera capabilities, the more reasonably priced foldable will cut down on a few features.
As for the new and more affordable model, Samsung is expected to bring down the price of this upcoming foldable by removing digitizers that recognise the S Pen's movement. However, the benefits of this for bringing down the manufacturing cost has yet to be proved as the existing Galaxy Z Flip series also does not offer the same, but is still quite expensive to produce. Samsung is reportedly also exploring options to automate its foldable lineup to reduce assembly costs.
Lastly, the report also hints that the new affordable foldable may not be announced or released alongside the usual foldable models in July this year. There is a chance that Samsung may release the product separately in the fourth quarter of the year. The new expected models are said to focus on improved hinge durability with reduced thickness. Samsung will reportedly stick to Qualcomm for processors to drive the new existing models, like on the Galaxy S24 series.
According to the same source, Samsung is reportedly requesting suppliers to complete quality testing of its new Galaxy Z foldable range by April itself. It also claims that suppliers should have no problems releasing the new products in 2-3 months. The original deadline was reportedly set for June. Samsung is also not expected to show off any new foldable designs this year.
