Arun TV: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Flip 5 May Launch at Early Galaxy Unpacked Event in July: Report

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 could make their way to the market sooner than expected, according to a report. The South Korean smartphone maker could be planning to hold another Galaxy Unpacked launch event in middle of July, instead of August. The company is set to face competition from other foldable phone manufacturers like Oppo, Motorola — and even Google, as the search giant is said to be preparing to launch its first foldable phone.

A report by South Korean publication The Elec (in Korean) citing industry sources states that Samsung has planned to hold its Galaxy Unpacked event in the second week of August. However, the foldable phone maker has reportedly begun ordering components that would allow it to launch the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 in July — about two or three weeks earlier than the current plans for a Galaxy Unpacked event in August.

Samsung might be planning an earlier launch for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 because the firm wants to boost its Q3 earnings after a quiet, "off season" second quarter, as per the report. The South Korean conglomerate recently reported that its Q1 profits were down 95 percent from last year — its worst quarterly profit in 14 years. The firm has blamed the steep drop in profit on slow spending on consumer electronics and an ongoing chip glut that affected the company's sales.

Last month, a tipster claimed that the foldable phone maker would start mass producing hinges for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 in early June. This is nearly a month ahead of Samsung's usual production schedule for these components, and the tipster claims that this will allow the company to launch both foldable phones in July instead of August.

Both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 are expected to feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC under the hood, Qualcomm's flagship chipset that also powers the Galaxy S23 series of smartphones. There's no word from Samsung on whether it will equip these phones with a customised version of the chipset that powers its Galaxy S-series smartphone lineup that made its debut earlier this year.

Is 2023 the year when you should finally buy a foldable phone? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.