Google Pixel Fold: What we know so far

There has been an emerging market for foldable devices in recent times. The competition is fiercer than ever with updated foldable hardware worldwide from Samsung and Motorola, and even more in China from the likes of Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Google could make its first entry into the market with speculations of a Google Pixel Fold launch.

Google Pixel Fold: Release Date

Although, there has not been any solid information about any release date as yet, as Google hasn’t even confirmed that a foldable device will be launched.

According to a tip by 9to5Google in 2020, it was reported that it had seen leaked internal documents from Google that suggested a foldable device would appear in the fourth quarter of 2021. That didn’t happen though, and the phone also didn’t appear any time in 2022. As reported so far by display expert Ross Young along with Korean site The Elec and leaker Jon Prosser, speculations point so far to a launch sometime in spring 2023.

Of course, we don’t yet know exactly when I/O will take place. Young has predicted a launch in March, with panel production set to start in January, though Prosser’s Front Page Tech more pessimistically points to May.

Google Pixel Foldable: Pricing

Although, there hasn’t been any fixed price or any specific information about the price of the Google Pixel Foldable. However, one thing that’s pretty certain though is that it won’t be cheap.

According to reports from 9to5, Google intends a price along with the rumoured name and release strategy, and the site says that Google has a “target price” of $1,400 for the Pixel foldable in the US.

That would be impressive if true, it could undercut the phone’s chief rival – the Galaxy Z Fold 4 – by $400. That would certainly be enough to give Samsung pause for thought and could force the Korean tech giant to in turn drop prices for this year’s Z Fold 5.

There has also been speculation of a higher price elsewhere though, with Front Page Tech predicting that the phone will cost a whopping $1,799 when it arrives in the US.

What will the Pixel foldable be called?

Specifically, there is basic no idea. Although most people online have started calling it the Pixel Fold.

9to5Google reported in 2022 that it will be called the Pixel Notepad, though has since changed its tune and predicted that Fold is the likelier name.

The only thing we know from Google is the phone’s codenames: Passport, Pipit, and Felix, which are believed to refer to different internal versions of the product.

‘Passport’ was been spotted in various bits of Android code, including the first public beta of Android 12, as spotted by 9to5Google. It appeared along with a model number – GPQ72 – believed to be tied to the phone’s Japanese variant.

 Pixel Fold: Cancellation

There was some speculation that the Pixel foldable had been cancelled.

According to a report in 2021, by Ross Young, it was reported that “Google has decided not to bring the Pixel Fold to market,” citing sources in the display supply chain that say Google has cancelled its parts orders for the foldable.

Young suggested that Google was concerned that “the product wouldn’t be as competitive as it needed to be,” as they’d be primarily up against Samsung “in a small niche market facing higher costs than their primary competitor.”

This looks unlikely though. Young himself has since reported that the Pixel Fold is back on track, and it looks like while the company did cancel parts orders, Young may have been a little rash in jumping to report that the phone as a whole had been scrapped.