[Anchor]
The highest-capacity model of Samsung Electronics' newly released foldable phone has surpassed 3 million won for the first time. Soaring semiconductor prices have driven up device costs.
Reporter Park Jaehyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
A smartphone that fits in one hand like a passport.
When unfolded, it reveals a wide, horizontally extended screen similar to a tablet.
This is the newly released "Galaxy Fold 8".
The 4:3 aspect ratio screen, introduced to a mobile phone for the first time, is optimized for browsing the internet, watching videos, or reading books.
With the previous vertically elongated model being renamed the "Fold 8 Ultra", the lineup has been reorganized into three formats: the horizontally folding Flip, the Fold, and the Fold Ultra.
[Noh Tae-moon, President and Head of Mobile eXperience (DX) Business at Samsung Electronics: We have launched three categories, up to the Fold 8, and internally, we view this as the completed form of our foldable product lineup.]
Samsung Electronics stated that by applying new technologies, the crease—a persistent issue in foldable phones—has been significantly improved compared to its predecessor.
However, the factory prices have increased compared to previous models.
The prices for the top-capacity 1TB models of the "Fold 8" and "Fold 8 Ultra" are 3.15 million won and 3.45 million won, respectively.
This marks the first time prices have broken the 3 million-won barrier.
The culprit is the soaring price of DRAM and NAND flash storage used in mobile phones, with DRAM prices surging sixfold and NAND flash storage rising ninefold compared to the third quarter of last year.
This signals the full-scale onset of "chipflation," a phenomenon where recent sharp increases in semiconductor prices drive up the costs of electronic devices.
[Kim Dae-hyun / University student: Because it's much more expensive than most home appliances like refrigerators, you really feel the impact. Unless there's an immediate inconvenience in using my current phone...]
As Apple recently raised the prices of some products by up to 450,000 won, its first foldable phone, scheduled for release in the second half of the year, is also projected to cost over 3 million won.
With soaring semiconductor prices showing signs of prolongation, companies face growing concerns over improving performance while minimizing price hikes.
(Camera reporting: Lee Byung-joo | Video editing: Lee So-young | Design: Park Chun-woong | Footage provided by Samsung Electronics)
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