Flipping heck: tech giant wants to upsize your phone

Perth Now

09-07-2025

One of the world's largest smartphone makers will bet on bigger screens, smaller forms and artificially intelligent features to convince Aussies to upgrade the contents of their pockets.
But the more advanced devices will come at a greater cost when they launch on August 1 and experts warn competitors are finally paying more attention to the once niche market.
Samsung unveiled its latest folding smartphones in New York early on Thursday, including the Galaxy Z Fold7 that will feature an eight-inch (20cm) fold-out screen for the first time and Google AI features that use its camera to 'see'.
The South Korean tech giant also showed off two versions of its folding Flip phone, including a discounted model.
Increasing the size of the screens up front and inside the company's top model foldable came in response to customer demand, Samsung Australia mobile experience head Eric Chou said, along with a slimmer body closer to a standard phone in size.
"This is really built for customers who have been loyal, have been using a foldable form factor and can provide us with insights," he told AAP.
"Effectively, they want a bigger screen (and) better camera, without compromising the fact that it is foldable."
The big-screen phone will also be significantly slimmer than its predecessor at 8.9mm when folded, will be 24 grams lighter and add a 200-megapixel camera, though it will also command up to $250 more, with its top model priced at $3549.
The smaller Z Flip7, from $1799, will add larger screens up front and inside, and a larger battery.
Both folding phones would add AI features, Mr Chou said, including photo-editing and language tools as well as access to Google's Gemini Live AI assistant that can use the phones' cameras for additional information.
"Gemini Live is able to see what you see and is able to see what's on screen and provide contextual recommendations," he said.
"Having that (AI) multimodal agent that's been built in, essentially... you can interact with the device and get the things you need through voice and the camera."
Despite being one of the first companies to release a folding phone in 2019, Samsung faces significant competition from rivals including Motorola, Huawei and Google, which released a foldable phone with an eight-inch screen in Australia last year.
Research from Future Market Insights predicts the folding phone market will grow by 26 per cent between 2025 and 2035, with annual growth of more than seven per cent in Australia.
But increasing the size and durability of folding screens and reducing the size of the devices would be vital to achieving that growth, Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said.
"Consumers are going to be spoilt for choice when it comes to the form factor of their next handset," he told AAP.
"The question is whether the foldable phone will stick for them, whether or not people buy it and continue to buy them rather than switch back to the standard phone format."