If we were guessing, we’d have said the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 would probably be land in August 2023. After all, the last two models of the former and three models of the latter were announced in August of their respective release years. But a new leak suggests this year's Galaxy foldable phones might actually arrive sooner than expected, in July.
This comes from leaker @Tech_Reve, who – posting on Twitter – claimed that Samsung usually starts mass-producing hinges for its upcoming foldable phones at the end of June, but that this year it’s going to start at the beginning of month, instead.
They suggest that, as a result, it’s possible the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be announced in July rather than August.
Samsung Electronics usually starts mass production of foldable phone hinges at the end of June, but this year they will start mass production at the beginning of June.It's also possible that the Galaxy foldable will be released in July this year.April 20, 2023
That said, this release date claim sounds like speculation, and there could be other reasons for Samsung’s early start on hinge mass-production (if Tech_Reve's claims are indeed true).
SamMobile – which spotted the leak – makes the point that we’ve elsewhere heard Samsung is using a new hinge design for these phones, so it could simply be that the company wants more time to manufacture these more modern hinges. That would make sense, as it might be a more involved process or be more open to issues than with the current hinge design found in the Flip and Fold 4.
In which case, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 might still land in August, as previously expected.
What else is coming?
Of course, that too is just speculation, but if Samsung does launch these phones early then it raises the question of what significant launches the company would have throughout the rest of the year.
If there’s nothing else then the company could have a long empty stretch before the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24, which we might not see until February 2024. There will likely be a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE at some point, but that’s not much to hang half a year on.
Moving beyond phones, there’s also the expected Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series to consider, but this line of wearables has often landed alongside Samsung’s foldables, in recent years. So that begs the question of whether the Galaxy Watch 6 would also have an early July launch, or land separately in August (or later).
With all that in mind, for now we still reckon August is the most likely release month for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. That gives the Samsung Galaxy S23 series more breathing room and more evenly spreads out Samsung’s flagship phone launches than a July launch would.
But we can’t rule out July either, especially as with increased competition this year from new rivals – like the upcoming Google Pixel Fold – Samsung might want to get its own foldables out the door early.
