“Samsung did it first! Apple didn’t make the first fold! Apple late to the game as always! Apple copied Samsung!”
“credit to Apple filing patent US10955880B2”
A single patent….
A single patent filed by apple Inc done way back in 2011 tells a story. A story of a journey from a concept in the making that travelled across 2 CEOs, a pandemic, the introduction of the first publicly sold foldable, and several presidencies. Apple filed this patent back on 07/06/2011 and it started from within apple’s bowels in apple park that they were looking to revolutionize how phones were used and held. John Ternus (now the current CEO of apple), then was a hardware engineer for Apple Inc, filed this patent along five others that worked on the project. This patent was rejected many times before it was eventually approved and started the journey. Comparing this to Samsung mobile and its first filed patent, which on 12/29/2014 was first compiled in korea filings then later came to Us patent filing. Interesting enough this patent filed is held by LG display LTD. This patent alone can show which company started looking first into folding displays and the idea of a folding phone. but this goes way deeper.
The question though was why were they looking in 2011, but wait over a decade just to unveil a device after their competitors came out with 8 generations prior, including a passport style device known now as the Galaxy Z fold 8.
“credit to Samsung.com”
8 years and the ups and downs of being first to it. Samsung has been making folding phones for the public since the first galaxy fold that released on September 6, 2019 in South Korea then globally some time later. That first design came with many obstacles, questions, and issues of its own kind with being a first generation product. But Samsung sold them and sold them well enough through the issue and the nonexistent app optimization to continue on for what is now the 8th generation. The galaxy Z fold 8 and 8 ultra sit at the top of apple’s competition and is in some considered a baseline of what a folding phone is compared to. Now this being a good benchmark to use is a whole other topic in and of itself, but i can agree that Samsung and the 8 years of developing and designing and selling a folding phone is one thing you can use for comparison when looking at other foldables as they were the first publicly produced and sold folding phones besides Motorola with the Razr. Though the Razr saw only success nostalgia and not in pure sales numbers comparable to Samsung. When the first folding Samsung was released, it came with issues of its own. Samsung though unlike apple didn’t fully release it to the public till later after several influencers were having issues with the hinge and also not being told if the screen protector on the inner display was actually apart of the display or not.(https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/19/18498904/samsung-galaxy-fold-review-screen-broken-issue-durability-foldable-phone-video-performance-price)
But that did not stop Samsung from creating more and showing that foldables were here to stay and had an audience. Especially comparing markets with the U.S market to others like Asia or Europe. Asian countries alone hold the highest adoption at roughly 44% for foldables with the U.S market trailing behind and Europe at a healthy 23-29% for foldables. The U.S market will probably see a higher surge thanks to apple joining the fray now and people comparing samsung to apple. With Samsung having a bigger backing from prior fold owners and current ones, Apple has a run for its money in the market that been primarily dominated by its biggest competitor here in the U.S
“credit from apple.com”
Two phones from the top mobile brands that are at the pinnacle of scrutiny and constant bickering of their fanbase on who copied who. Samsung was in the mobile phone market first, that part is true. But they weren’t the first to make the modern style smart phone we know of today. That title belongs to apple and the unveiling Steve Jobs announced at an apple event on January 7, 2007. Many people scrutinized Steve’s vision then, including several companies who now are only known for their keyboard and BBM messaging. So no, apple was the first to create the smartphone, but they were the first to innovate and create the modern smartphone we know of today. The iPhone Duo is apple’s cultivation of over a decade of research and progress towards what they see as a revolution in apple technology and innovation. After using the phone myself and also using several other foldables from the Android side, I can say the apple version of a foldable has a unique “taste” when it comes its way of what a foldable phone should be and feel. The titanium siding has a more robust and premium feeling and weight in hand over the aluminum siding of Samsung and Motorola or google.
Comparing these two phones has brought back the age old question. “who copied who first?”
This question can be answered in multiple ways but one direct answer is that they copied each other. Apple has taken design ques from Samsung just like Samsung has taken designs from Apple. Though those ques are more along from Google and its operating system Android than really Samsung copying Apple. So that blame can be put possibly somewhere else. But as we delve deeper into the underlying question at hand. The simple answer is both copied each other in some way, shape, or form. The best answer to say who is better than the other is really a preference more so than a straight “who has the better device overall”. They both play their parts well and serve in the community as the broadening spectrum of what is a phone anymore. i use my iphone duo as a kindle reader and for entertainment watching and viewing when on lunch or in public. Others might need a phone like these for multitasking or viewing documents. Others might have bad eyesight. The choice comes down to preference. Which one do you choose?
