It’s believed that Samsung had a target to ship 15 million units of foldable smartphones by the end of this year. The company was counting on the popularity of its new models, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, to hit the target. However, new industry estimates suggest that the company may not be able to hit this target.

The current prediction is that Samsung will be able to ship only 8 million units of its latest foldable smartphones by the end of this year. Compared to the 7.1 million units shipped during this period last year, this is still an impressive increase of 13%.

Global economic situation to blame for target miss

This prediction has been made by Noh Geun-chang, head of the Hyundai Motor Securities Research Center. He shared a conservative estimate of 10 million units shipped for all Samsung foldable models, such as the Galaxy Z Flip 3, combined this year.

Samsung may have revised its targets based on the market response and the wider economic situation. The head of its mobile business, TM Roh, mentioned during the Galaxy Unpacked event for the new foldables that the company expects to sell over 10 million foldables in 2022.

The weak customer demand may have more to do with the global economic situation than the lack of desirability for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4. The latter is particularly one of the most expensive smartphones on the market with prices starting at $1,799. In the current economic climate, there won’t be a lot of people who are willing to spend that kind of money on a phone.

The situation is expected to improve in 2023. A conservative estimate puts the total Galaxy foldable shipments next year at 15 million units.