A few days prior to the product's official release, Google provided an early glimpse at its first foldable smartphone.
In a video shared on Twitter and YouTube, the company teased the release of a Pixel phone with a vertical hinge that, when opened, reveals a tablet-like display. The following week, the company will convene its annual developer conference at its headquarters in Mountain View, California. The company is rumored to unveil an affordable Pixel 7a smartphone, its most recent Android operating system, and enhancements to its AI-powered Bard chatbot at this event.
It's getting harder to surprise people these days, so businesses often show out products well in advance of their own events to generate enthusiasm and set proper expectations. Although Pixel Fold's specs weren't made public by the company, it's becoming increasingly common practice for companies to do so. There is a lot of hype surrounding foldable phones, but the market for them is still quite niche. Samsung dominates this industry, but it's followed closely by Motorola/Lenovo, Huawei and Oppo. There has also been a trend among celebrities and TikTok influencers toward the use of mobile phones that look and feel as they did in the 1990s. In 2021, foldable and flexible displays made up about 0.7% of the smartphone market, according to ABI Research. It is predicted that by 2022, they will have lost nearly 2% of the market.
Additionally, consumers are less likely to adopt expensive products. The Pixel Fold will reportedly have a starting price of $1,700. Google's interest in foldables isn't surprising, but the corporation may wait to deploy its own gadget until the technology matures. Early Samsung Galaxy Z Fold models had screen difficulties, and most apps weren't suitable for its shape.
ABI Research researcher Michael Inouye said, "From a software standpoint, Google has been working to improve the user experience on foldable devices." "When coupled with hardware advancements, market conditions have reached a point where a Pixel Fold is justified,"
