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Samsung Drops Galaxy Z Fold 6 Price In Major New Sale

Samsung Drops Galaxy Z Fold 6 Price In Major New Sale

Forbes15-05-2025
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 price has dropped. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Samsung is gearing up for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 launch this summer. In the meantime, the company has slashed the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, just like it did with the Galaxy S25 Ultra before the new S25 Edge phone landed.
The deal is very similar to the aforementioned Galaxy S25 Ultra deal that popped up last week. It combines enhanced trade-in prices, a straight $350 off the foldable phone (if no device is traded in), discounted accessories and a handful of free subscriptions.
Here is what you will get if you buy the Galaxy Z Fold 6 directly from Samsung.
In last week's Galaxy S25 Ultra promotion, the $250 no-trade-in offer was the best part of that deal because it's a huge discount and there's no complicated trade-in process to navigate. The same logic doesn't quite apply when buying the Galaxy Z Fold 6 because Samsung is paying top dollar for old phones in this deal.
The maximum $1000 trade-in price is obviously reserved for last year's flagships from Apple and Samsung. However, the company will shell out serious cash for phones that are years old, as you can see below.
Samsung doesn't extend that generosity to Apple devices, though. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, for example, was released in 2020. The iPhone 12 Pro Max was released in the same year and only fetches $300, half of what its Galaxy counterpart is worth. Enterprising deal hunters can find the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra on eBay for under $250, which can be sent to Samsung for that $600 discount, provided it's in working condition.
If you own a Pixel phone, Samsung will only pay $300 for it. Less than the company's no-trade-in offer. It's worth selling your used Google phone on the secondary market instead to get a double discount.
Samsung has also bought back its free subscriptions offer. The last time we saw the company dole out lengthy free trials to third-party services was back in 2023 via its U.K. 'boost' program, which has since ended.
That deal included a free year subscription to Disney Plus, which was popular with Galaxy phone users. Unfortunately, the new offer isn't as generous, but there are some useful freebies here.
You will notice that these are services that make use of the large display on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 for content consumption and productivity. With a new Galaxy Z Fold 7 on the way, which may have a better screen and will almost certainly have an improved processor, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more free subscription offers bundled with the device.
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Korean Internet Giant Kakao Teams With OpenAI To Jumpstart Growth
Korean Internet Giant Kakao Teams With OpenAI To Jumpstart Growth

Forbes

time16 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Korean Internet Giant Kakao Teams With OpenAI To Jumpstart Growth

S triding purposefully across the stage at a packed media briefing held in Seoul in early February, Shina Chung, CEO of Korean internet giant Kakao, leaned in to greet OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman. After six months of negotiations, the two companies had just sealed a partnership that would give Kakao (market cap: $20 billion) access to the American AI titan's powerful technology. As Chung declared on stage, it could potentially turn 'all imaginable AI-era services into reality'—and give Kakao a fighting chance to leapfrog the competition. With OpenAI's help, Kakao hopes to realize its ambitions of being at the forefront of providing hyper-personalized services to the 49 million users of its ubiquitous superapp KakaoTalk, which equals about 94% of the country's population. Chung is targeting a November rollout of so-called AI agents—next generation virtual assistants that can go beyond answering basic questions to making decisions and even taking actions on behalf of users. Shina Chung, CEO of Kakao Jaehyun Kim For Forbes ASIA 'We needed a partner we could trust, especially one who leads the field in performance and innovation,' says Chung in an exclusive interview with Forbes Asia at Kakao's office in Pangyo, South Korea's Silicon Valley, just south of Seoul. 'We had the same philosophy.' For Kakao and its first woman CEO, the OpenAI alliance could be nothing less than a game-changer. Since taking the top job in March 2024, Chung's biggest challenge is to steer the company through the longest stretch of sluggish sales in its 15-year history. The 50-year-old Chung, who featured on Forbes Asia 's Power Businesswomen list last year, is betting that going all-in on AI will be a catalyst for growth. 'We are now preparing to significantly change KakaoTalk so that AI can penetrate its many services,' she says. The collaboration isn't a one-way deal. For OpenAI, it offers an opportunity to further its global ambitions by providing access to one of the world's most tech-savvy markets, which has the highest number of paying subscribers outside the U.S. for ChatGPT, its revolutionary chatbot. 'We're excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao's millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao's users communicate and connect,' says OpenAI's chief product officer Kevin Weil by email. Just the day before the glad-handing event with Chung, Altman was in Tokyo with SoftBank's billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, announcing a new joint venture to market AI services to Japanese companies. SoftBank recently led a $40 billion funding round in OpenAI and the two companies are also partners in the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI data centers in the U.S. Shina Chung and Sam Altman are hoping for a win-win. Courtesy of Kakao Corp. It's a critical turning point for Kakao. The company's business is dependent on the Korean market—compared with blue-chip stalwarts like Samsung and Hyundai whose fortunes are determined by global exports—which faces a deepening economic slump. The country's GDP contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter amid the threat of a global trade war, weak consumer spending and months of political turmoil. In 2024 the company narrowed its net loss to 161.9 billion won ($119.4 million) from 1.82 trillion won the previous year, on a 4% uptick in revenue to 7.87 trillion won. The alliance with OpenAI could yield as much as double-digit sales growth within two years, according to Kakao as it transforms itself into a company where AI is at the core of its operations and services. One-Stop Shop The Korean internet giant offers everything from taxi-hailing to online banking. Percentages have been rounded. Source: Kakao Chung will need to act fast to hard-bake the fast-evolving tech into Kakao's businesses, which run the gamut of everyday activities, from messaging and online banking to music streaming and taxi-hailing, to gain an edge on its chief rival Naver, South Korea's biggest internet company by revenue (2024: 10.73 trillion won). The Seongnam-based firm is widely seen as being a step ahead of Kakao in the AI race with its large language model (LLM) HyperClova X, launched in 2023 and tailored for the Korean language and culture. Also closing in is a fast-growing crop of local AI native startups. 'The AI agent will automatically do the work for you and life will be so much better even without knowing what AI is.' Already Chung has begun laying the foundation. In mid-June, the company announced a 600-billion-won investment to build a 92,000-square-meter AI data center in Namyangju city, about 25 kilometers from Seoul. The data center—its second after last year's launch of a facility in Ansan with 6 billion gigabytes of data storage capacity—will break ground in 2026 and is slated to open by 2029. B y leveraging OpenAI's LLMs, which undergird ChatGPT, Kakao is developing a suite of services with the aim of getting users to increase their time on the superapp—and spend more money while using it. 'We saw diminishing returns trying to compete in the benchmark tests for the most powerful AI models, so we decided on a more practical approach seeking cost efficiency,' says Chung. OpenAI-powered AI agents have the potential to autonomously plan and take action across Kakao's digital ecosystem, with limited human direction; for example, make a restaurant booking on behalf of a KakaoTalk user, add a calendar reminder, book a taxi and pay for a meal. That stickiness, Chung believes, will result in more ads—one of Kakao's main revenue drivers—reaching users across its chats and channels. 'AI enhances our core business, especially advertising and commerce,' she says. Advertising accounted for 15% of group revenue last year while its commerce unit contributed 11%. Kakao earns commissions of up to 8% per transaction for gifts sent between KakaoTalk users. An average of 600,000 gifts (from chocolate to vitamins to cosmetics and clothes) are exchanged daily, the company says, in the form of mobile vouchers that can be redeemed at participating restaurants and retailers or ordered from the platform's gift shop. 'The advertising business, which currently operates as the main cash cow of internet companies, will undergo dynamic changes with the introduction of AI-based services,' says Jingu Kim, a Seoul-based analyst at Kiwoom Securities. He predicts there will be a rapid uptake in B2C-based subscription plans that include AI agent services. 'In this process, we expect that Kakao will be able to secure sustainable growth and level up its corporate value through its collaboration with OpenAI.' A Kakao Friends store selling character merchandise such as Ryan (the lion) and the radish-in-rabbit clothing Muzi. Getty Images In a dry run with OpenAI's tech in early May, Kakao launched a new standalone messaging app called Kanana for closed beta testing that features AI agents Kana and Nana. Powered by OpenAI's GPT and its own small language model (SLM), it can assist users in personal and group chats by answering questions, summarizing group conversations, setting meeting times for events and sharing updates. Kakao declined to say how much it has spent but discloses that some 400 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, are working on AI projects. 'For everyday-use cases, we don't need to [invest in] a large language model,' says Chung, as that can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to develop. Besides being cheaper to train and run, SLMs are safer to use as they're less likely to provide incorrect answers to user queries, known as hallucinations, while also being more secure, she adds. It doesn't require a network connection to a cloud, which is vulnerable to server breaches. Kakao will use its SLM to perform simple tasks, while relying on OpenAI's powerful LLM to manage more complex, multistep and linked applications across Kakao's ecosystem, says Chung. It's the same strategy used by Apple: simple queries are answered by Siri, powered by Apple's in-house Apple Intelligence LLM, and more complex questions are directed to ChatGPT. 'Everyone was defaulting to GPUs for AI, but does it make sense to use the most expensive chips for small inference tasks?' explains Chung. A taxi operated by Korea Mobility. © 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP The company expects to complete Kanana's closed beta testing in November, around the same time that it plans to launch the OpenAI-Kakao AI agent. 'The virtual assistant will automatically do the work for you and life will be so much better even without knowing what AI is,' says Chung. 'Because now you need to find which app to use, go to the app, take action. With agentic AI it will be seamless.' A longside her tech focus, Chung has been striving to make Kakao leaner. This has involved shedding non-core businesses—the number of affiliates has dropped by a fifth over the past two years to 115 from 147, the company says. Then there's the planned spin-off of Daum, the country's second-largest portal site by daily visitors, which Kakao acquired in 2014. This will allow Chung to concentrate on juicing up other parts of Kakao's portfolio, both domestic and overseas, and in particular its banking, entertainment and digital healthcare services. In June, a joint venture between its internet banking arm Kakao Bank and Thai financial group SCBX, which controls Siam Commercial Bank, received approval from the Thai government to establish a virtual bank in Thailand, making it the first Korean bank to operate in the country in 25 years. Earlier this year Kakao Entertainment announced the global launch of its fan-community app Berriz as Kakao Healthcare forged a partnership with Seoul-based elderly-care startup Caring and expanded into Japan. Flat Line Kakao's quarterly revenue has seen little movement in the past two years. Source: Kakao K akao's sales started to lose steam after peaking at 2 trillion won in the third quarter of 2023. With the company being under pressure to boost revenue and earnings, founder Kim Beom-su embarked on an aggressive expansion of its entertainment portfolio. Kim, who has a 24% stake in Kakao and a net worth of $5.1 billion, made the fate­ful call to get into a bidding war for K-pop agency SM Entertainment with Korean billionaire Bang Si-hyuk's Hybe, manager of boy band sensation BTS. While Kakao was ultimately successful, snatching a 35% stake in SM for 1.3 trillion won in March 2023, prosecutors alleged that Kim, long-hailed as an internet pioneer, had manipulated SM's stock price to ward off Hybe. Kim, who denied any wrongdoing, was arrested in July 2024 and is currently out on bail awaiting trial. In a statement to Kakao employees at the time, he said: 'The allegations are not true. I have never instructed or condoned any illegal acts.' A crisis 'can be an opportunity for renewal.' During the takeover battle for SM, Chung was running venture capital arm Kakao Ventures and also had a board seat at Kakao. She had made a name for herself as a VC investor with a portfolio that produced four unicorns. To steady the ship, Kakao's board enlisted Chung as CEO last year. 'I saw that period as a turning point for Kakao,' she recalls, adding that a crisis 'can be an opportunity for renewal.' Chung's forward-looking approach was honed over a 25-year career that has included roles at Boston Consulting Group, eBay and Kakao rival Naver. Chung studied French literature at Yonsei University in Seoul (not because she particularly liked French lit, she says, but because back then it was the subject du jour among brainy female students), followed by a master's degree in marketing from the same college and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. Photo by Jaehyun Kim for Forbes Asia In 2014, she joined Kakao Ventures as a partner, becoming its CEO four years later. Her decade-long stint at the VC arm taught her how to deploy 'my imagination with curiosity,' she says. 'For example, the market for most early-stage investments wasn't there yet, so I needed to imagine it.' She did just that with Kakao Ventures' early backing of South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions, contributing 2 billion won of the 5.5 billion won in seed funding in 2020. Last December, Rebellions became the country's first AI chip unicorn, valued at 1.3 trillion won, equivalent to $1 billion at the time, after it merged with a rival chipmaker owned by Korean billionaire Chey Tae-won's SK Group (Kakao retains a stake). It's not a given that Chung's big tech bet will pay off. There are concerns in the industry that AI agents are more hype than substance, and could struggle to gain traction with users, much like Facebook's metaverse, which saw the social media giant rebrand itself Meta and pour tens of billions of dollars into a virtual world project that has so far flopped. Alongside OpenAI, tech firms Google, Anthropic and Salesforce have debuted AI agents for consumers and businesses but they are nowhere near mainstream. OpenAI is also restricted in its use of personal data collected from Kanana agents, per a government review requested by Kakao over concerns about sharing personal information such as bank account and credit card details. Chat data must be stored in a database controlled by Kakao and can't be used by OpenAI for commercial purposes, the Personal Information Protection Commission ruled. Kakao Pay is accepted at stores throughout South Korea. © 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP For now, a campaign promise by South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung to invest 100 trillion won in AI and introduce measures to support the country's internet giants has led Kakao's previously moribund shares to surge over 85% in the past two months. Investors also piled in over a proposed law that would allow companies in South Korea to issue won stablecoins, with Kakao's listed payments platform Kakao Pay seen as one of the main beneficiaries. Kakao Pay shares rocketed before correcting sharply recently after regulators highlighted the risks associated with stablecoins. Chung's shown the stamina and smarts to meet such challenges and has a secret weapon up her sleeve: imagination. 'It will work very well,' she says. 'Especially when new eras come.' More From Forbes Forbes Korea's Kakao Teams Up With OpenAI To Develop AI Products By Zinnia Lee Forbes Korean Webtoon Publisher Kakao On The Industry's Anti-Piracy Crusade By Rob Salkowitz Forbes South Korea's AI Chip Champion Is Poised To Carve Out Global Niche By John Kang

Huge 4th of July TV sale — epic savings on 4K TVs from LG, Hisense and Sony from $169
Huge 4th of July TV sale — epic savings on 4K TVs from LG, Hisense and Sony from $169

Tom's Guide

time23 minutes ago

  • Tom's Guide

Huge 4th of July TV sale — epic savings on 4K TVs from LG, Hisense and Sony from $169

The holiday weekend is almost here and 4th of July sales can be found everywhere. Retail holidays, such as Independence Day, are a great time to make a major purchase and as we head into the long weekend I'm seeing a major uptick in 4th of July TV sales. Plus, now that we're six months into 2025, I'm seeing plenty of deals on some of the best TVs we've reviewed this year. One of my favorite deals right now comes courtesy of Amazon, where smart TVs start at just $69. The sale includes deals on both premium and budget TVs. A standout pick is the 2025 Hisense 65-inch QD7 Mini-LED 4K QLED TV on sale for $498. It's the first major discount we've seen on this just-released TV. If you're looking to buy an OLED TV, Amazon has the Samsung 65-inch S85D 4K OLED TV on sale for $1,199. It's a fabulous price on a mid-range OLED TV we fully recommend. These aren't the only 4th of July TV sales worth considering. Below, you'll find our top picks across various price points and screen sizes. Be sure to check back throughout the holiday as new deals go live. TV sale: deals from $69 @ AmazonAmazon has smart TVs on sale for as low as $69 this 4th of July. Keep in mind, the cheap TVs tend to be smaller, 1080p models (which are more suitable for a children's room or guest room). However, the sale also includes larger sets. These are among the cheapest TVs we've seen from Amazon. By comparison, Best Buy is offering a similar sale with prices from $ check: from $69 @ Best Buy | from $88 @ Walmart The U6N is Hisense's most affordable Mini-LED TV, and this deal drops its budget-friendly price even more. In addition to its Mini-LED backlighting, the U6N also arrives with quantum-dot color, Dolby Vision support, and Google TV built right into the software. It's a terrific choice for folks who are shopping for a big-screen TV but don't necessarily need top-shelf performance. In our Hisense U6N Mini-LED TV review, we called it a great budget pick for viewing movies and shows. The TCL QM7K is a budget-friendly Mini-LED TV that is perfect for folks who want to upgrade to a truly impressive TV without breaking the bank. It features built-in Google TV with Chromecast, a slate of sought-after gaming features (such as HDMI 2.1 and 4K gaming up to 144Hz), and a bright, colorful picture worthy of movie night. In our TCL QM7K QD-Mini LED TV review we said the Editor's Choice TV is an affordable TV you can count on. The S90D is one of Samsung's 2024 OLED TVs. The OLED TV features Samsung's new NQ4 AI Gen2 processor, HDR10+/HLG support, 120Hz refresh rate, four HDMI 2.1 ports, and built-in Alexa. It also offers 4K AI Upscaling to ensure all programs are crisp and sharp. On the audio front, you get Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound Lite for 3D surround check: $1,099 @ Best Buy You couldn't ask for a better discount on one of the hottest displays. In our Samsung S85D OLED TV review, we said the Editor's Choice TV is a serious value offering a 120Hz refresh rate on a WOLED panel. An ATSC 3.0 tuner also means you get access to NextGenTV and 4K broadcasts, plus Tizen OS is also home to a slew of game streaming apps, making the S85D a true all-arounder when it comes to features. And if its onboard access to content isn't enough, a total of four HDMI 2.1 ports is also ideal for your range of connected check: sold out @ Best Buy At a whopping 100 inches, the Hisense U7 ULED is a monster to behold. It leverages some exciting new specs, most tantalizing of all being gaming-centric proponents like a 144Hz refresh rate and Dolby Vision Gaming support for cinematic experiences at over 60fps. Several other enhancements, like WiFi 6e, Google TV OS, and IMAX Enhanced, make it the perfect entertainment solution and an utter steal. Price check: $1,899 @ Best Buy The B4 is LG's entry-level OLED TV. This TV supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and has improved picture quality thanks to LG's A8 processor. For gamers, it features four HDMI 2.1 ports, a 120Hz refresh rate, a brightness booster, and Game Optimizer Mode. In our LG B4 OLED review, we called the Editor's Choice TV the value OLED TV of the year. The 48-inch model is a Best Buy exclusive. The C4 is LG's current flagship OLED TV. It's powered by LG's A9 processor and features a 120Hz panel, Dolby Vision/ HDR10/HLG support, built-in Amazon Alexa, four HDMI 2.1 ports and Apple AirPlay 2 support. It's also one of the few OLED TVs that can natively accept a 144Hz input from a PC. In our LG C4 OLED TV review, we said content looked colorful and dazzlingly bright on the new C4 series. It's the best version we've seen of the company's top-selling OLED TV range. Note: Amazon offers the same prices.48" for $1,09655" for $1,29665" for $1,29677" for $1,996 83" for $3,296 Panasonic TVs are making a comeback in the U.S. Built around Panasonic's HCX Pro AI Processor MKII, its new OLED TV offers support for HDR10/HDR10+/Dolby Vision/HLG and Dolby Atmos audio. On the gaming front, you get a 120Hz panel with VRR, AMD FreeSync Premium, and NVIDIA G-Sync support. It comes in 55- and 65-inch size options. Part of LG's 2025 TV lineup, the LG C5 OLED is here as the value pick of the year. Offering a slew of features, like a range of HDR certifications and gaming specs for the PS5 Pro crowd, the C5 proves a major improvement over its predecessor. We called it "nearly flawless" and gave it a 5-star rating in our LG C5 OLED TV review. 42" for $1,19648" for $1,29655" for $1,496 65" for $1,796 77" for $2,79683" for $4,496 The QM6K is a quantum dot-enhanced Mini-LED TV that has a lot going for it. Its picture quality is impressive and it gets even better when you turn on picture settings like Filmmaker mode or Dolby Vision IQ HDR. In our TCL QM6K Mini-LED TV review we said its feature set, picture quality, and price point are the perfect combination for anyone looking for an affordable TV. The Roku Plus Series is an outstanding value. In our Roku Plus Series 4K QLED TV review, we said it offers a great smart interface, HDR color, and excellent sound at an affordable price. This 75-inch model is the biggest TV in Roku's new lineup. It features a QLED screen along with full array local dimming. You also get Dolby Vision/HDR 10 Plus/HLG support, Apple HomeKit/Alexa/Google Assistant support, and four HDMI ports. Gamers take note that while it's reliable for casual play, you only get a 60Hz screen and no HDMI 2.1 support. Price check: $699 @ Amazon Sporting Mini-LED with full array local dimming, the Hisense U7 promises incredible picture quality and brightness. Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10, HDR10 Plus, and HLG support are included. For gamers, this TV also has 144Hz Game Mode Pro and HDMI 2.1 support. Announced in November 2024, this is Amazon's first Mini-LED TV. It features a 144Hz refresh rate in tandem with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support to give gamers ample juice for fast-paced games. The TV also has an Ambient Experience feature, so when it's powered off it displays dynamic artwork. This is also the first Amazon Fire TV to support Dolby Atmos audio. This 55-inch Insignia TV offers impressive image quality no matter what you're watching. Thanks to its built-in Fire TV features, you can also stream all your favorite shows and movies and control them with your voice thanks to full Alexa support. Pioneer's budget TV offers a stunning picture for an amazing price. It comes with Dolby Vision/HDR 10/HLG support, a 60Hz refresh rate, three HDMI inputs, and Xumo TV OS. The 55-inch 4K display offers superior brightness and high color contrast that make this a perfect living room TV. The Roku Plus Series is an outstanding value. In our Roku Plus Series 4K QLED TV review, we said it offers a great smart interface, HDR color, and excellent sound at an affordable price. It features a QLED screen along with full array local dimming. You also get Dolby Vision/HDR 10 Plus/HLG support, Apple HomeKit/Alexa/Google Assistant support, and four HDMI ports. Gamers take note that while it's reliable for casual play, you only get a 60Hz screen and no HDMI 2.1 support. Price check: $349 @ Amazon The Bravia 3 sits at the tail end of Sony's 2024 TV lineup, sporting a much more budget price point. It uses a 60Hz refresh rate on Sony's 4K HDR X1 processor, but gamers will enjoy the ALLM support and several PS5-specific features, like Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Game Picture Mode. You also get HDR10/HLG/Dolby Vision support and Google TV. This Mini-LED TV launched this year, bringing with it several enticing upgrades for gamers. Built on a 165Hz refresh rate with a Game Mode Ultra mode, the Hisense U7QG is designed to be the best seat in the house for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and even your PC. Add to that one serious sound system in its 2.1.2-channel speaker and you've got a powerhouse of a TV with tons of flare. It's not everyday you see a brand new 2025 model getting a major discount on the heels of its release, but the U8QG is an icon in this regard (and many more). It's bound to be among our favorite gaming TVs this year thanks to its slew of gaming features built on a 165Hz refresh rate. It's also got the best brightness in the TV game, owing to its Hisense lineage. If you don't need 4K resolution, this 2-Series is a budget smart TV with 1080p resolution and support for HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Audio. The included Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote lets you find your favorite content, get sports scores, control smart home devices, and more with the sound of your voice. The popular Amazon Fire TV 4-Series just got even better. A new ultra-slim bezel puts your entertainment front and center, while support for vivid 4K Ultra HD, HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus bring scenes to life. Plus, it operates on Amazon's Fire OS, which makes streaming your favorite apps easier than ever.

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