Above:  Gianmarco Leri.

Originally published in Newsday BusinessDay for October 20, 2022

“It’s the voice of the client,” Gianmarco Leri, Product Manager for Samsung explained. “Samsung listens to what our customers tell us.”
What they said about the Flip model was that the phone needed a bigger battery and fast charging, both of which are features of the newest model, along with improved hinge engineering for the foldable smartphone.

The ZFlip 4 targets a market segment between 13 and 34 years old who is social media savvy, enjoys taking photos and find the form factor of a phone that folds down to a neat, colourful square to be appealing. This year’s Bora Purple colour adds to the fashion appeal
For users looking for a unique device, the Flip 4 can be ordered from Samsung’s website in custom colour combinations though the ardently nationalistic will find that the closest they can get to the TT flag is red, silver and navy.

The small cover screen that’s visible when the phone is folded can display more information, including three people you call regularly or three lines of incoming messages. These are simple usability changes that reflect the day-to-day way that Flip users use their devices.
The ZFold 4, the company’s premium foldable, targets users between 20-44 years old with a focus on productivity, multi-tasking and using of the SPen stylus on the expansive screen to draw or take notes.

These business focused users are choosing the subtle executive finish of the new gray-green colour option.
Leri said of Samsung’s updates for the most expensive smartphone in its line, “This is a premium phone and we responded to concerns about the cameras. We’ve added a 50MP main camera, and the device has three cameras on the back.”

Samsung has brought its Nightography technology to the Fold 4, improving the quality of the phone’s low-light capture performance.
The Fold introduced a selfie camera that’s under the screen, which caused some issues with users viewing content on the device and the company has responded with new engineering that reduces the visibility of the smartphone lens while using the device unfolded.

“Some people were saying, oh, we can see the undercover camera once we open the phone or we’re trying to watch Netflix or a movie. Now it’s way less visible.”
Samsung doesn’t discuss specific sales figures, but according to Leri, “The response is better. Last year, the company had supply chain issues, but we have reached the targets that have been set for sales so far, and are concentrating our efforts in specific markets.”

The Flip and Fold were introduced in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The Flip is being sold in the Bahamas.
The Zfold 4 builds on Samsung’s collaboration with Microsoft to build more features into Office productivity apps on its devices.

“You can collaborate with three people on a document at the same time. If you have to do a PowerPoint or an Excel spreadsheet, you can work together on it from different locations. We understand what people want with each generation of the Fold and that’s what we try to bring to the mainstream with the device.”
The buzz is building around the next version of Samsung’s premium S series line and the company will not be doing a fan edition of the current S22 smartphone.

“The S22 Ultra has been the best-selling model by a landslide,” Leri said of Samsung’s market flagship.
“You can combine sales of the other two devices and not reach those numbers.We’ve been the number one in foldables for four generations, taking every risk to establish these phones in the market. We have been working to make folding phones mainstream devices.”
The company is not committing to any timeline for the S23 line, but will be refreshing its A series line over the next two quarters, beginning in November.

“With the A series you begin with prices from US $100 and go up from there to address the needs of every market segment, ensuring that you deliver value at each price point, offering the better option, better cameras, better battery. We will keep improving the devices with each iteration. Samsung strives to be the best in every market segment.”
Smartphone buyers interested in the new ZFold and ZFlip will be offered bonus items until October 28.