After a disastrous start, Samsung’s persistence with foldable phones is paying off with a dominant market share and now a patent to further cement branding alongside its foldable displays.
It is now half a decade since Samsung unveiled the original Galaxy Z Fold although it wasn’t first to market. That honour had already gone to flexible display manufacturer Royole which unveiled the FlexPai a month earlier. But it had a poor quality build and was clunky in its operation. It was also rather large; you felt like you were unfolding a smaller version of a VHS movie case.
Unveiled in February, 2019, The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold was a better build but initially was a disaster when it came to market due to damaged folds and tears in the screen. It was withdrawn from sale and re-released later in the year.
Nevertheless Samsung persisted with the Galaxy Z Fold and now has released five versions of it, with Fold 6 expected in August.
Persistence also has paid when it comes to market share, with Samsung enjoying 62 per cent global market share during H1, 2022, according to market research firm Counterpoint. The Korean manufacturer was well ahead of its nearest rivals, Huawei and Oppo.
However, Samsung is not standing still. The Korean Herald reports that Samsung registered the “Ironflex” trademark for its next foldable display technology with the US patent agency on January 3 and was awaiting review. “Similar filings are also found to have been made in South Korea and the UK, the Herald says.
It says “the Ironflex trademark consists of standard characters without claim to any particular font style, size or colour”.
“According to Wert Intelligence, an intellectual property market tracker, Samsung Display has secured 1,840 patents on foldable displays alone in the US, about four times more than the 481 patents secured by China’s BOE and the 469 patents of crosstown rival LG Display.”
In the filing, Samsung says the trademark would apply to other foldable devices apart from displays, including its landmark foldable phones. “Samsung requested its use for a range of gadgets using foldable displays, including smartphones, monitors and tablet PCs, The Korean Herald says.
