Samsung Electronics, the South Korean technology giant that makes Galaxy smartphones and is one of the world’s largest semiconductor producers, is seeing stronger early demand for its latest foldable phones as consumers show greater interest in a larger, tablet like folding design.
Sales of the Galaxy Z8 series increased 8% from the previous Galaxy Z7 generation during the first two weeks after launch, according to Counterpoint Research’s weekly smartphone tracker released Sept. 9.
The increase itself was relatively modest. More notable was where the demand came from. The Galaxy Z Fold8 accounted for an estimated 57% of total Z8 series sales during the period, making the larger foldable the main driver of Samsung’s early gains.
The result offers an early indication that Samsung’s latest approach to the foldable phone is finding buyers. The Fold8 uses a wider passport style form factor that opens into a tablet like screen, giving users more room for multitasking and creating a clearer distinction from a conventional smartphone.
That distinction is becoming increasingly important as smartphone makers search for ways to persuade consumers to pay more for premium devices. Memory prices have surged this year, pushing average smartphone selling prices higher across the industry and making expensive upgrades a tougher sell.
Samsung nevertheless managed to increase sales of its new foldable lineup. Counterpoint attributed the Fold8’s performance to its screen proportions and the multitasking experience offered by the larger display.
The numbers also arrive at a critical moment for Samsung’s foldable strategy. Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo on Wednesday, bringing its first foldable iPhone into a category Samsung has spent six generations developing.
That does not change what Samsung’s early sales numbers show. The Fold8 was already responsible for more than half of Z8 series sales before Apple entered the market, providing evidence that Samsung’s larger folding format had begun attracting buyers on its own.
It does, however, change what comes next. Samsung has spent years refining a premium smartphone category that remained outside Apple’s iPhone lineup. With Apple now entering the same segment, Samsung will have to prove that the demand it has cultivated can hold up against its biggest rival in premium smartphones.
The Galaxy Z8 series’ 8% sales increase therefore represents an encouraging but still limited advance. The stronger signal is that the Fold8 itself has emerged as the lineup’s main seller. Whether Samsung can build on that momentum will become clearer now that Apple is targeting the foldable market Samsung spent years developing.
