Technologies

Will Gen Z Buy Into Flip Phones? Samsung’s Z Flip 5 Aims to Find Out

Persuading teen girls to part with their iPhones is no easy feat. But Samsung’s newest foldable could be the phone to convince them.

Cher Horowitz had one, Serena van der Woodsen had one, Lizzie McGuire had one, and now, in 2023, Sydney Sweeney has one. I’m talking about flip phones, which through the 1990s and early 2000s were the must-have tech status symbol for teen girls everywhere.

I should know, I was one of them. When I rocked up to university, it was with my trusty Motorola Razr — an icon of its time that was famously endorsed by another icon of that time: Paris Hilton.

Just as Motorola tapped Hilton in 2001, Samsung is now leaning heavily on Sweeney, star of the beloved-by-Gen Z HBO show Euphoria and part of the cast of The White Lotus’ first season, to try to convince the teens of today that they need a flip phone in their lives. Specifically, it wants to sell them the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which it unveiled in Seoul, South Korea, along with the heftier Galaxy Z Fold 5 phone, Galaxy Tab S9 and Galaxy Watch 6 during last week’s Unpacked event.

New and notable features of the Z Flip 5 include a larger cover screen on the front of the phone and a new hinge that allows it to sit fully flat when open and close completely with no gap. It goes on sale Aug. 11, and you can preorder the phone starting at $1,000 (£1,049, AU$1,649). CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco has been using one and says it’s a “step in the right direction” for Samsung.

Sweeney appeared at the event, both in a video and in person with a slicked-back ponytail and short gray dress, taking part in a live demo where she snapped a selfie with K-Pop idol Wonyoung. It’s the cross-cultural brand collaboration of dreams, and a savvy move by Samsung if it wants to appeal to teen girls globally. And it appears that it does.

In its ad for the Z Flip 5, Sweeney says the phone is a “game-changer” for when she’s filming videos on her own and talks about how her favorite part is the option to personalize it to fit her own style. With retro pastel graphics, the ad is designed to be catnip to young women. But Samsung still has a fight on its hands if it wants to convince this audience that the Z Flip 5 should be their next upgrade.

The fate of flip phones

Sadly for the flip phone, it’s a design that fell out of favor with teen girls (and everyone else) with the rise of the smartphone. For the past 15 years, the ubiquitous slimline slab is the only style of phone that’s been worth having — perhaps until now. Over the past few years, makers of Android phones have been developing their own foldable phones, including new generations of the Razr and the newly introduced Google Pixel Fold, packing flexible displays that can be flipped out to increase the screen size. Still, foldable phones accounted for only 1.2% of phone shipments last year, according to IDC, with Samsung dominating that category.

The majority of these phones are similar in size to a standard smartphone, and double in screen size when unfolded. But the Z Flip is half the size of a standard phone, and expands to the size of most smartphones in fold-out mode, making it ideal for people who like the idea of carrying a smaller device — a teenage girl, perhaps?

The “vintage” clamshell design of the flip phone has the potential to pique the interest of Gen Z users, most of whom are largely loyal iPhone users, according to a Financial Times report from February. There’s also some anecdotal evidence to suggest that some teens are already ditching their smartphones in favor of “dumb” old-school flip phones, according to CNN and other media reports. The Z Flip 5 offers the best of both worlds — the nostalgic look and feel of yesterday’s tech, with the cutting-edge features of today’s.

Sydney Sweeney and Wonyoung at the Samsung event

It’s notable, said CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood, that Samsung’s marketing and advertising campaigns for the phone heavily feature women and female influencers. (Its other products are all largely promoted by members of male K-Pop band BTS.) Android phone users have historically skewed slightly male, according to CCS research, with manufacturers struggling to attract as many female users. But the Z Flip 5 could provide some real competition to the iPhone in this regard, and the inclusion of Sweeney should “help drive interest in the product,” said Wood.

“Having an attractively designed device that offers a more compact alternative to an iPhone may be more appealing to female customers, and anecdotal feedback so far seems to suggest the Flip form factor does resonate well with women,” he said.

Flippin’ pricey

One potential roadblock for the Z Flip 5 on its way to winning the hearts and minds of teens everywhere is price. Foldable phones have struggled on the whole to gain mainstream traction at least in part due to their $1,000-plus price tags. The Z Flip 5 comes in at just under this, at $999, making it more affordable than most. (For contrast, Samsung’s other foldable phone, the Z Fold 5, starts at $1,800.)

It could be in Samsung’s favor that the improvements it’s made to this year’s Z Flip offer better value for money, said Anisha Bhatia, senior analyst at GlobalData.

“Samsung is following its Galaxy S23 strategy by giving consumers ‘more’ for the same price in this time of inflationary stress,” she said. “The Flip 5 costs the same as its predecessor at $999 but doubles the base storage to 256 GB.”

Make no mistake: That’s still a hefty amount to part with whether you’re a young person or a parent of one. But no high-end phone these days comes cheap, and the Z Flip 5 offers a lot for the money, while standing out in a crowded market with its unique design.

If any phone can tempt Euphoria and K-Pop fans to embrace Android and foldable screen technology, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Z Flip 5 is the one to do it.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Flexes Its Foldable Beauty

A photo of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 taking a photo

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Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”