Nearly a month since their announcement, the foldable smartphone duo of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 are now available for pre-order in Kenya.
According to Samsung Mobile Kenya, the pre-order period will run through to September 20th, ahead of the official release to the market of the two devices.
Those who pre-order either of the two smartphones will get several accessories.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold3 will be accompanied by a free flip cover (with S-Pen storage) and a wireless duo charger when the device is being picked up. Those for the Galaxy Z Flip3 will be accompanied by a free leather cover and a wireless duo charger. Samsung Care+ is also being thrown in for pre-orders of both devices, covering their users from repair costs associated with the repair and/or replacement of the inner or outer screens of the devices as a result of damage within the first year of purchase. Given how sensitive the displays on foldables are, this is a worthy add-on.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 (5G) is going for Kshs 120,000 while the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 has a recommended retail price of Kshs 221,000 for the 512GB variant.
Both devices feature several upgrades over their predecessors and, in the case of the Galaxy Z Flip3, most importantly, a reduction in the pricing.
The announcement of the two foldable smartphones last month marked the first time that Samsung wasn’t pitching a Galaxy Note smartphone as its flagship device for the second half of the year in a decade. While Samsung has remained mum on the fate of the Galaxy Note series, which single-handedly ushered in the era of the “big” smartphone, it has brought most of the functionality of the Galaxy Note to its 2021 foldables by adding support for the S Pen, the Galaxy Note’s iconic stylus, to the Fold3 and the Flip. In the case of the former, making it a world first.
Whether that is enough to woo consumers remains to be seen.
Foldables accounted for a tiny fraction of the over 1.3 billion smartphones estimated to have been shipped worldwide last year. According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung dominated the global foldables market with 80% market share in 2020. Counterpoint projects that the company is on course to increasing its market share to 88% with at least 9 million foldables expected to be shipped in 2021, three times the number last year. “By 2023, we expect a 10x growth in foldable smartphone shipments,” notes the research firm.
