After months of hypothesis, Samsung foldable fanatics lastly bought the information they’ve been craving.
And no, I’m not speaking in regards to the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7 and brand-new Z Flip 7 FE. Whereas undoubtedly thrilling, they don’t fairly push the boundaries in the identical approach as this upcoming gadget.
In case you hadn’t guessed already, I’m referring to Samsung’s first-ever Galaxy tri-fold gadget. Whereas the brand new foldable wasn’t revealed and even teased throughout the principle Galaxy Unpacked keynote on 9 July, Cellular Division Head TM Roh had one thing in retailer for journalists on the bottom in New York Metropolis.
In accordance with The Korea Occasions, Roh confirmed that the corporate was “working arduous” by itself tri-fold smartphone, aiming to launch it “on the finish of this yr”. In fact, that preliminary launch could also be restricted to Samsung’s native South Korea and the encircling areas, with a full, world launch extra possible in 2026.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
In a separate interview with Tech Advisor, Kadesh Beckford, Samsung UK’s Smartphone Specialist Product Supervisor, added: “We’re at present simply observing this area, and when all the pieces is prepared for our shoppers, we’ll be bringing one thing significant to the market”.
Nonetheless, Roh revealed that Samsung has but to determine on an official title. The ‘Galaxy G Fold’ moniker has been talked about in rumours, however plainly there are different choices on the desk.
As a reminder, a ‘tri-fold’ cellphone refers to a book-style gadget with two folds as an alternative of the same old one, that means the title is technically inaccurate. It allows the common smartphone expertise on the entrance, then opens twice to disclose a a lot bigger inside show that’s the same dimension to many tablets.
At present, the one tri-fold gadget in the marketplace is Huawei’s Mate XT Final Design. It has a 6.4-inch cowl show that turns into a 7.9-inch panel while you open it as soon as, or a ten.2-inch display screen while you open it twice.
Luke Baker
Nonetheless, whereas the gadget acquired a worldwide launch earlier this yr, that didn’t embrace the UK or the US, with Huawei nonetheless banned from promoting its gadgets within the latter.
Even when it had been obtainable, Huawei’s ongoing points with software program (it runs the corporate’s personal HarmonyOS software program as an alternative of Android) make it very unappealing to most shoppers within the West.
It due to this fact offers Samsung an enormous alternative to get forward of rivals and make the class its personal. Regardless of extra competitors than ever amongst flip- and book-style foldables, Samsung nonetheless had 41% of the European foldable market share in Q1 of 2025, in line with analysis from Counterpoint.
With no sensible competitors within the UK and Europe, that may very well be even increased amongst tri-fold gadgets.
Nonetheless, worth is prone to be a serious barrier. In Europe, the Mate XT has an eye-watering MSRP (producer’s advised retail worth) of €3499.
Samsung may not go that top, but it surely’s prone to be considerably costlier than even its top-of-the-line configuration of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (£2,149/$2,419). Except you completely love being on the leading edge of recent tech, it’ll be arduous to justify.
