Samsung enters the TriFold race with the Galaxy Z TriFold, challenging Huawei and signaling more choices and possibly lower prices for consumers.
Samsung has finally thrown its hat into the tri-fold ring. The tech giant announced the Galaxy Z TriFold (its most ambitious foldable yet), and it's clear the company is done watching Huawei have all the fun in this space.
Unfold this thing twice, and you're looking at a 10-inch screen, the biggest display Samsung has ever crammed into a phone. Fold it back up, and it's a regular 6.5-inch smartphone that actually fits in your pocket.
The gadget will feature first in South Korea around December 12 at 3.59 million won (roughly $2,450). Then China, Taiwan, Singapore, and the UAE are set to follow before the year wraps up. However, the United States will have to sit tight until early 2026.
"Samsung's relentless pursuit of new possibilities continues to shape the future of mobile experiences," said TM Roh, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Device eXperience Division at Samsung Electronics. "Galaxy Z TriFold solves one of the mobile industry's longest-standing challenges—delivering the perfect balance between portability, premium performance, and productivity all in one device."
Under the Hood
The specs are nothing to scoff at. When fully unfolded, the Galaxy triFold measures just 3.9 millimeters thin. Barely thicker than a couple of credit cards stacked together. Samsung packed in a customized Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a 200-megapixel main shooter, and a beefy 5,600mAh battery spread across all three panels. That's the largest battery Samsung has ever squeezed into a foldable.
The real engineering flex here is the hinge system. Samsung calls it the "Armor FlexHinge." These are two different-sized hinges working in tandem to handle the awkward weight distribution that comes with folding a phone in three.
The frame uses titanium and what Samsung dubs "Advanced Armor Aluminum," while the back panel is made of ceramic-glass fiber-reinforced polymer. Fancy words aside, it means this thing should hold up better than you'd expect.
Playing Catch-Up with Huawei
As great as the news is for many, Samsung is late to this party. Huawei dropped the world's first triFold phone, the Mate XT, back in September 2024 at a whopping €3,499.
They've already moved on to a second-gen model, the Mate XTs, which now supports a stylus on its 10.2-inch display. That's two generations while Samsung was still tinkering in the lab.
"Right now, Huawei kind of stands alone as an innovator" with the TriFold design, Bryan Ma, vice president of device research at IDC, told Euronews earlier this year.
He pointed out that Huawei pulled this off despite being cut off from advanced chips and Google services thanks to U.S. sanctions—a pretty remarkable comeback story.
Still, Samsung isn't exactly hurting. The company commands 32.9% of the global foldable market in 2024, per IDC numbers. Huawei sits at 23.1%, with Motorola rounding out the top three at 17%. But flip to China specifically, and it's a different picture. Huawei owns nearly half that market at 49%.
Premium Positioning
Foldables are still very much a niche play. The segment grew 6.4% last year to 19.3 million units shipped globally, but that's just 1.6% of all smartphones sold, according to IDC. And these aren't cheap. The average foldable runs about $1,218, nearly triple the $421 average for a regular smartphone.
Analysts think shipments could hit 45.7 million units by 2028. The wild card? Apple. The company hasn't made a move into foldables yet, but when it does, experts expect fireworks.
Meanwhile, other players are circling. TCL has shown off triFold tech at trade shows, though founder Dong-sheng Li says they're waiting to see if consumers actually want one before committing. Chinese startup Tecno brought its Phantom Ultimate 2 triFold concept to Mobile World Congress this year, too. The race is heating up.
The Price of Innovation
At $2,450, Samsung is undercutting Huawei while still charging a solid premium over its own Galaxy Z Fold 7 ($1,999). That's not accidental—Samsung clearly wants actual market share here, not just bragging rights for building a cool prototype.
To sweeten the pot, early buyers get a six-month trial of Google AI Pro and a one-time 50% discount on screen repairs. That last perk is telling. Durability has always been the elephant in the room with foldables, and Samsung knows it.
Whether everyday consumers are ready to shell out for a phone that folds twice remains to be seen. For now, the tri-fold remains a gadget for early adopters and tech enthusiasts with deep pockets. But with Samsung now in the game, this niche might not stay niche for long.
