Google has released a preview of its first foldable phone and says more news is to come on May 10.
The tech giant announced on a page in the Google Store, together with a short video, that the first foldable phone engineered by Google will be called the Pixel Fold and that more details will be released May 10 in livestreamed keynotes from its Google I/O event.
In a Thursday (May 4) tweet, Google said in fine print in the video that the foldable phone is “coming soon.”
In a nod to the announcement taking place on Star Wars Day, the tweet said, “May The Fold Be With You.”
There have been unconfirmed reports over the last month that Google would release a foldable phone, Seeking Alpha reported Thursday.
The reports have said that the Pixel Fold will weigh 10 ounces, have a 5.8-inch outer screen and a 7.6-inch unfolded screen, and cost more than $1,700, according to Seeking Alpha.
This announcement comes at a time when demand for consumer electronics has been weakening.
Foxconn, which is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and the chief supplier of Apple’s iPhone, said in March that it had seen lower demand for consumer electronics.
Similarly, Apple had predicted a drop in demand for iPhones a month earlier.
Earlier in the year, research firm Gartner said it expected a 4% decline in sales of smartphones this year compared to 2022.
“Consumers are holding onto their phones longer than expected, from six to nine months, and moving away from fixed to flexible contracts in the absence of meaningful new technology,” Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner, said at the time. “In addition, vendors are passing on inflationary component costs to users, which is dampening demand further.”
Google’s announcement also came a day after it announced its rollout of a new offering that will let users “sign in to apps and sites the same way they unlock their devices: with a fingerprint, a face scan or a screen lock PIN.”
The new offering — support for passkeys across Google Accounts on all major platforms — was announced Wednesday (May 3).
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