While ignoring any potential "new" tech that MIGHT adequately address the issue, I still say physics is going to win in the end. It always does.

Anything that moves is inherently more prone to greater wear than anything that doesn't move, regardless of the thing. So a foldable phone will physically wear out faster than a candy bar.

Another quibble that can't be ignored is the thickness. That camera module makes it look like a REALLY ugly aircraft carrier. So much so, you can't lay it flat. Maybe you're not supposed to, but with MY phone, I lay it flat all the time to talk. Holding things all the time makes my hands ache. I get that marketing today doesn't take into account arthritis, but still, it's a poor compromise in the pursuit of being hip and trendy.

And that's exactly why they make them. These are not "for the masses" phones. These are for the younger crowds who are still into that whole, "my shit is more expensive, and therefore better, than your shit is" mentality the corporate world creates with these pieces of crap.

After all, we;'re past the introduction phase of cell phones. Most everyone has one and now most everyone has their preferences. But like cancer, grow or die seems to be the motto of the corporate world, and so they introduce this garbage, knowing there are people out there who are naive, young, inexperienced and wealthy enough to buy into "trendy", not realizing it's just contrived bullshit. They've been indoctrinated in the "if it's expensive, replace it often!" ideology as they yolo their way through young adulthood into some level of experience and maturity.

The candy bar style of phone didn't have the turnover, and so in the pursuit of growth in profits, the costs were cut by removing things people liked (such as headphone jacks, customer-replaceable batteries, etc.) and that STILL wasn't enough to get them to buy a new one every two years. I have a fully functional cell phone that's 9 years old as a backup. Not a scratch, dent or issue with it at all.

So, this is how the corporate responds when they can't find new markets. They take their flagships and turn them into disposable, fragile pieces of shit that may last two years, and then will begin to age poorly, expecting that if some schmuck was stupid enough to buy one once, they'll do it again (which isn't a great look, but, sadly, is a realistic expectation, because that's what they do).

This is business in the 21st century. It's not about product. It's about growth, and the marketing pushes that beyond reason. In any other reality, these things would have flopped.