Google may have ditched or delayed plans to launch a Pixel Fold phone, if supply chain rumours are to be believed.
There’s been a fair amount of hype concerning a potential Google foldable, with all signs pointing to the tantalising prospect of a pure Android Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 rival.
Now Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) claims that “Google has decided not to bring the Pixel Fold to market”. Or at least, not in 2021, and not during the first half of 2022.
You might think that a new phone arriving in the dregs of 2021 might be rather unlikely now anyway. But DSCC had previously claimed that the Google Pixel Fold could launch before the end of 2021, hence the inclusion of that seemingly unnecessary detail.
According to those supply chain sources, Google doesn’t believe that its foldable phone would be sufficiently competitive. It’s claimed that the Google Pixel Fold wouldn’t have been able to match the Fold 3’s in-display selfie camera, and that its cameras wouldn’t have been up to the standard of the Pixel 6 Pro (pictured) or Pixel 6.
We’re tempted to point out that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3’s in-display selfie camera wasn’t very good, and that its main cameras were far from state of the art. But we’ll move on.
It still seems likely that Google will launch a foldable phone at some point, quite possibly in the second half of 2022. The announcement of Android 12L last month seems custom made for the foldable form factor, and that’s due to roll out in early 2021.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
