Technologies

CNET Survey: 64% of People Still Don’t Want a Foldable Smartphone

Despite the growing hype around foldables from companies like Samsung and Motorola — and maybe someday Apple — most smartphone buyers have their hesitations.

Foldables have been a staple of the smartphone release cycle for years now, with products from companies like Samsung, Motorola and Google. Despite the refreshingly unique form factor in a sea of mobile uniformity, the vast majority of consumers still aren’t sold.

According to a CNET survey, 64% of respondents say they aren’t willing or interested in buying a foldable smartphone in the next year, while just 13% say they are. An additional 20% aren’t sure if they want a foldable and only 3% say they already own one.

Foldables began making a resurgence in smartphone form about six years ago, when Samsung released the first Galaxy Z Fold and Motorola brought back the iconic Razr. Other companies like Google, Honor, Oppo and Huawei have released their own foldable devices, from book-style iterations to clamshell versions.

There’s still one key player that hasn’t entered the game yet: Apple, which has been rumored to be developing a foldable iPhone for several years now. Reports say it’s working with Samsung Display to develop screens for that upcoming phone. It’s possible that once Apple enters the foldables space, interest will grow across the board.

«Apple’s potential entry in the market later in 2026 could indeed help [with] legitimizing and democratizing the category,» Thomas Husson, principal analyst at Forrester, told me this month.

A niche market

Despite the amount of options, foldables remain a niche market. They make up less than 5% of smartphone shipments, according to a report by TrendForce. But sales are expected to rise. An IDC report says foldable shipments will reach 45.7 million units worldwide by 2028, a significant increase over the 18.1 million units shipped in 2023. Still, adoption is relatively slow.

«It’s a pretty big commitment for the average user to switch something they depend on so much,» Ryan Reith, group vice president for IDC’s Worldwide Device Tracker, told me ahead of Samsung Unpacked in early July. «Nobody wants a trade-off, especially when you’re going to make that big transition.»

That’s why companies are fighting tooth and nail to make their phones sleeker, cheaper and more powerful — to varying degrees. Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold 7 puts the emphasis on a slimmer build and better camera, while slapping on a $2,000 price tag that will likely make it appeal only to die-hard tech enthusiasts or people without strict budget constraints.

Motorola, meanwhile, has focused on developing more budget-friendly versions of its Razr smartphones, so you don’t have to break the bank to tap into that foldable nostalgia in 2025 and beyond. (Samsung also has a «more affordable» version of its Galaxy Z Flip 7 that starts at $900).

Still, appealing to a wider consumer base can be challenging, especially when so many people have reservations.

The barriers to buying a foldable

Some of the biggest issues preventing people from buying a foldable smartphone are high prices (36%), durability concerns (31%), not understanding the advantages over a regular phone (31%) and a perceived lack of practicality (26%). Also, 15% of people say foldables are too bulky, 10% said their preferred brand doesn’t make a foldable yet and 8% are concerned about subpar camera quality.

Many of those perceptions could soon change, thanks to the release of phones like the Z Fold 7, which focuses on thinness, durability and a higher-grade camera. But other factors like a high price can still be a hindrance. And if you’ve sworn allegiance to another brand like Apple, it’s possible nothing will convince you to switch to a foldable until that specific company makes one. That’s the power of brand allegiance.

The resistance to buying a foldable phone is fairly consistent across age groups. Millennials are the most keen to venture into foldable territory, with 19% of respondents saying they’d be interested in buying one in the next year (nostalgia no doubt plays a role here). They’re followed by 14% of Gen Zers who would be willing to make that purchase, 10% of Gen Xers and 8% of Boomers.

So far, that doesn’t appear to be stopping phone makers from putting their hat in the ring and seeing if they can convince shoppers to fold.

Methodology

CNET commissioned YouGov Plc. to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,121 adults, of whom 2,064 do not own a foldable smartphone. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 1 and 3, 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know