Google, which entered the foldable smartphones market earlier this month, said it was working on two different foldable models but later abandoned one of them after being dissatisfied with its quality.
Ivy Ross, vice-president and head of design for hardware products at the Alphabet-owned company, confirmed this in a recent episode of the Made By Google podcast.
“I’m really proud of the team because there was another foldable model that we had created, that we had the discipline to hold back and say ‘nope, it’s not good enough yet’, and really wait until we felt like we could do something that was good enough or better than what was out there already,” Ms Ross said.
“So, it’s really a testimony … to the fact that we are able to do that and recognise when something isn’t good enough.”
Google launched its first foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold, at the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, California, on May 10.
Priced at $1,799, the notebook-style smartphone features a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.8-inch cover screen.
Powered by Google’s own Tensor G2 chip, the Pixel Fold has a familiar smartphone silhouette that fits in the palm of the hand when it is folded, but opens into a wide screen for professional users.
Orders are open, with Google expecting to start shipping the device to customers next month.
Ms Ross did not confirm the type of the abandoned foldable smartphone that Google was working on.
However, industry links indicated that it was a budget-friendly clamshell-like foldable phone that could easily fit in one's hand, and that Google was aiming to win over young consumers through the device.
Foldables – ray of hope in declining market
Foldable phones remain the one positive talking point in the smartphone market, which declined more than 11 per cent in 2022, according to the International Data Corporation.
Foldable phone shipments are expected to hit 21.4 million units this year, an increase of more than 50 per cent on an annual basis, the researcher predicts.
They are further projected to reach 48.1 million units in 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 27.6 per cent between 2022 to 2027.
The IDC expects a drop in the average selling prices of foldable phones, a development that is expected to attract more customers eventually.
A 10 per cent decline in average sales price helped the market to grow by 75.5 per cent in 2022.
Can Google pose a threat to Samsung’s lead in foldables?
Samsung is the world's biggest mobile phone maker, and holds a market share of about 62 per cent in the foldable category, way ahead of second-placed Huawei Technologies, the latest Counterpoint Research data shows.
Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo, all based in China, have introduced foldables but they are mostly limited to the Chinese market.
It appears for now that the South Korean company does not need to worry about competition from Google due to the limited availability of the Pixel Fold.
At the time of launch, Google said the new phone would be initially available in Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, followed by launches in other markets. However, it did not share any timetable.
