Samsung may out cheaper Z Flip and a tri-folding phone to go again Apple's foldable
With the foldable phone market following the footsteps of the electric car industry in that early adopters have already gotten their fix, and the market is getting saturated and competitive, Samsung will reportedly shake things up to defend its market share.
First off, it is expected to release a second, cheaper Galaxy Z Flip next year, along with a Z Flip 7 with a larger screen and a Z Fold 7 resembling the Z Fold Special Edition that it just launched.
While most phone makers are ready to give up on clamshells due to low margins and overheating problems, reports storied display industry analyst Ross Young, Samsung will double down with a cheaper and more expensive Flip versions in 2025.
In addition, Ross says that the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT will have a direct competitor by "one other brand" (read: Samsung) come 2026 when Apple is also expected to release its first foldable phone.
This is why he predicts that it will be only in 2026 when the bendy handset industry will return to growth after a gloomy 2025 that will see their shipments slip despite the best efforts of Samsung and the Chinese juggernauts.
He pegs 2026 as a record year for foldable phone sales, with Samsung's tri-folding and other bendy phones, as well as Apple's foldable, pushing it to the whopping 30% growth that will continue unabated until 2029 at least.
This is not hard to fathom, as Samsung is usually following Apple's release plans closely, and has a direct answer ready as soon as Cupertino comes up with a new feature or form factor.
Apple will allegedly release a sub-8mm iPhone 17 Air next fall, and Samsung is said to preempt the 17 Plus replacement with a thin phone in the Galaxy S25 series itself, set for launch in the quarter before the slim iPhone 17 Air hits the shelves.
A tri-folding Samsung phone has been long time in the making, too, and Samsung has demonstrated its abilities to make one on multiple occasions during various display expos, but what we are most interested in is the cheaper Z Flip that is set to arrive next year and bring the entry barrier to the world of foldable phones down.
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