The fashion for foldable smartphones continues… After the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold, as well as the Oppo Find N2 Flip, it is the turn of a new model, this time American, to see the light of day. Google announced last week at the Google I/O developer conference the launch of its Pixel Fold. However, the Californian firm clarified that the device will not go on sale in France at the moment, but why?
A complete folding smartphone but at a prohibitive price
Google’s Pixel Fold has nothing to envy its Samsung competitor (the Galaxy Z Fold 4) from the point of view of technical characteristics. If its design does not allow it to stand out, the smartphone is still very compact and slim for a product in its category. Similarly, Google engineers would also have ensured that the hinge would not leave any marks.
On the other hand, it is the price that divides: Google has announced a starting price of 1899 euros, or more than 100 euros compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 at the time of its launch (note: a model on offer at the moment). . to 1599 euros on the official website). A price, therefore, to a large extent prohibitive, especially since the market for folding phones is struggling to take off and currently only represents 1% of smartphone sales, according to the firm Canalys.
Thus, the Pixel Fold is offered at 1,899 euros in Germany, 1,749 pounds in the United Kingdom and 253,000 yen in Japan and no information regarding its marketing in France has been revealed. For some analysts, it would be a strategy to collect some user feedback before working on a second version of the Pixel Fold potentially available worldwide.
Actually, Google does not consider France as a “mature” market for this particularly expensive smartphone. Therefore, it will likely never make it to France, at least for this version.
How to get it?
If the astronomical price of the Pixel Fold doesn’t scare you, it’s possible to get one, even if you don’t live in Germany (the only European country where the smartphone is sold). To do this, you can buy it from July 2 on the German Google Store site.
Also, since the latest model of the Pixel 7a is available on Amazon, it is also very likely that the Pixel Fold will also appear on the German market site (amazon.de).
However, please note that no after-sales service will be provided to French buyers of the Pixel Fold and nothing can assure you that you will be able to benefit from the guarantees attached to the purchase of the phone if you obtain it in a foreign country. Finally, the rather limited stock is likely to sell out very quickly: you will therefore have to be highly motivated and reactive to hope to get your hands on the Pixel Fold.
Source: BFM TV
