Last week, Trendforce analysts created a buzz in the tech community when they suggested that Samsung intends to produce a "more competitively priced folding phone" in 2024.

The buzz was intensified when leaker Revegnus claimed that Samsung was looking at the $400 to $500 range. Frankly, we always felt that was a little too good to be true, given that Samsung's Galaxy A54 is $449 for a regular non-folding panel.

"We have no plans to produce a mid-range priced foldable smartphone and the latest rumors are baseless," a Samsung spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Ilbo.

Of course, given that Samsung smartphones range in price from $160 for the Galaxy A03s to $2,160 for the Z Fold 5 with 1TB of storage, $400-$500 is not mid-range by 2023 standards. In other words, this statement is not a complete dismissal of cheaper folding models, even if they are still at the high end of the overall market.

In light of this, the site asked about a fan edition or "FE" model, similar to that found in the Galaxy S series, with a similar exterior but with savings on internal components. A spokesperson stated, "Nothing is set in stone on this."

This is not a "no," but seems like a sensible direction to take if Samsung wants to make folding handsets mainstream, as it has indicated before.

In the four years since Samsung introduced the original Galaxy Fold, the company has made some progress on pricing, but foldables are still out of the price range of many consumers.

The Galaxy Fold was priced at $1,980 at launch, while the latest Galaxy Z Fold 5 starts at $1,799, a 9% drop. The original Galaxy Z Flip was priced at $1,380, but the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is $999, down 27.6%.

[9] Competition is heating up, and Motorola's 2023 Razr proves that a foldable phone can be made for as low as $699, despite an older chipset and a small cover display. Perhaps if Samsung decides it really wants to produce the Galaxy Z Flip FE, it is the model to pursue.

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