Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to debut at Samsung's Unpacked event next month, but there is already a lot of information about what this new foldable phone may offer. Rumored upgrades include an under-display camera for the larger 7.5-inch display inside, a more durable design, and of course, a faster Snapdragon 888 processor.

But the biggest change may be support for the S Pen, which will greatly enhance productivity for those who like to take notes, sketch, and annotate documents on a larger canvas. After all, if you have a phone that transforms into a tablet, why not take full advantage of the enlarged display?

However, the S Pen may not make the Galaxy Z Fold 3 that much more attractive than the Galaxy Z Fold 2. And talking to various mobile analysts, what Samsung does in terms of pricing this time around and showing new use cases for the Foldable will have a much bigger impact than accessories.

To be clear, S Pen support is a welcome addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 3. It will make it much easier to take notes in meetings, mark presentations, and sketch, especially on larger displays. Yes, there is a big difference between the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 6.8" panel and the Z Fold 3's 7.5" screen.

"With a larger display comes more room for notes and a larger canvas for drawing," says Avi Greengart, founder of Techsponential. The S-Pen will fit perfectly with the Z Fold's focus on productivity."

In a way, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could replace the Galaxy Note 21, which Samsung has reportedly decided not to release this year. And if you're going to charge $2,000 or more for a foldable phone, you might as well be able to handle at least some of the features of a business tablet or laptop.

"The S Pen started out as a tool for a larger canvas when the only larger canvas was the Note," said Ramon Llamas, research director at IDC, "Having the S Pen on the Z Fold 3 is a The inclusion of the S Pen in the Z Fold 3 seems like a natural progression for both the S Pen and the Z Fold 3. Because the Z Fold series is as much about content creation as it is about content consumption, and that's where the S Pen comes in."

But where exactly is the S Pen going, and one of the reasons the S Pen implementation on the S21 Ultra is not flat is that it requires the purchase of a separate case to hold the stylus. The phone does not have a holster. Also, given the size of the S21 Ultra, adding a case with a built-in slot would make it even bulkier.

Samsung could add a slot for an S Pen to the Galaxy Z Fold 3, but would have to make other trade-offs, such as a potentially smaller battery. Indeed, the Z Fold 3 reportedly has a smaller battery than the Galaxy Z Fold 2 (4,380 mAh vs. 4,500 mAh), but we do not know why.

"Without a convenient place to store accessories like a pen, that element is more likely to get lost, which is a deterrent for users who do not appreciate the pen as part of the offering," said Tuong Nguyen, senior principal analyst at Gartner

While S Pen support will certainly increase the overall appeal of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, it will not be a tipping point for shoppers considering a foldable phone. A more important consideration is price.

The Galaxy Z Fold 2 launched at $1,999 and has since dropped to $1,799. However, this is still higher than the price of two iPhone 12 devices.

The good news, according to at least one report, is that Samsung may drop the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 by 20%. This may be due to Samsung's cost savings in the production of the foldable panel.

"Foldables are inherently exciting," Greengart said. The challenge is to convince consumers that now is the time to buy foldables, and to do that, pricing needs to come down." 0]

There are also rumors that Samsung may launch a Galaxy Z Fold Lite type product. For example, the lower-priced Z Fold might not support the S Pen at all.

The lower price would not hurt," Llamas said. 'Samsung could introduce a good/better/best lineup to expand their reach. The question will be which features to keep and which to remove. 5G vs. 4G LTE. Different resolution screens. Different cameras. Remember, the changes must be important to the customer, not mostly incremental or cosmetic."

Now that the novelty of folding phones is beginning to wear off, at least among early adopters, Samsung needs to show that the category has real staying power. To do so, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 must create use cases that improve our everyday lives.

"We are at a point in the marketplace where we are very focused on value. Lowering the price of any device makes it more attractive, but in the end it comes down to the value the product gives me," says Nguyen.

This means that Samsung needs to promote more apps that take advantage of the foldable display. Be it one that works in multiple modes, or one that makes it easy to drag and drop content from one window to another. Or it could be a game that utilizes the larger canvas in new ways.

"In other words, how does a pen or a foldable device make it worth spending money to replace a phone," Nguyen added.

"This was even more obvious when the market was transitioning from feature phones to smartphones.