This article seems to only talk about the ones that fold like a book, and not on the ones that fold like a clam. I don't get the fixtation on that design - at this point it's more of a tablet than a phone, and for a tablet it's pretty small. When opened, the Samsung Z Flip has the dimensions of a smartphone - which means you can put it to your ear or operate it with one hand. You can't do that with the Z Fold - it's too wide. Also, the Samsung Z Flip costs half as much as the Z Fold - which is still not cheap, but it's not that much more expensive than Samsung's regular flagship phone with the same specs. So I assume affordable flip smartphones should be possible - maybe not this year, but probably soon enough.
Z Flips sell twice as much as Z Folds - all while Samsung is spending most of the marketing effort on pushing the Fold. Maybe if they focused on the Flip instead they could have made this one "a thing"?