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Samsung's first tri-fold phone is reportedly headed for a limited 2025 release with a sky-high price

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Jan 07, 2025, 5:18 AM

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It's no longer a big secret that Samsung's latest foldable devices have received a lukewarm response from mobile consumers around the world, effectively forcing the company that used to dominate the market segment not long ago to look for new ways to diversify its rather boring and repetitive product portfolio.

While the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 are inexplicably still expected to strongly resemble their moderately successful forerunners, a Galaxy Z Flip FE model with a lower price point and an as-yet unnamed triple-folding handset could also come out this year to try to breathe fresh air into Samsung's otherwise stale foldable lineup.

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Don't expect the world from Samsung's rookie tri-fold effort in terms of sales numbers!

There are two main reasons why this potentially groundbreaking product is unlikely to strike gold at the global box-office, and a new Korean media report (translated here) perfectly details and explains them both.

First of all, Samsung doesn't plan to manufacture a whole lot of tri-folding Galaxy phones to begin with due to the incredible challenges and complexities of said production process. In total, the current goal is apparently to get "less than 300,000 units" ready for primetime by the "second half of this year", which is obviously a mere drop in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7 production ocean.

Samsung's first tri-fold phone should be similar but also very different from the Huawei Mate XT.

That almost certainly means this first-of-a-kind Samsung device will be released exclusively in just one or two (Asian) markets in 2025, more or less taking a page from the recent availability playbook of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.

Because Samsung wants to focus on durability and build quality, its first-ever tri-fold smartphone is likely to adopt a so-called "G Type" form factor rather than the S-shaped design of the Huawei Mate XT. In a nutshell, that means this otherwise mysterious bad boy should be a completely in-folding device instead of folding both inward and outward like the competition.

That will allow the undoubtedly massive primary screen to be better protected when not in use, but Samsung is still expected to spend a fortune on the delicate hinge mechanisms and, well, the actual double-folding display. And that brings us to the second reason why this product is unlikely to sell like hotcakes this year, which is a significantly higher price point compared to current "conventional" foldables.

It's virtually impossible to guess exactly how much Samsung's Huawei Mate XT alternative will cost in South Korea and/or China, but what can be easily predicted is that very few people are likely to afford the experimental device, so it certainly makes sense for it to be released in a trial run of sorts at some point in the summer or fall of 2025.

What about specs and features?

There is extremely little to report on that front at this time, although one plausible theory does suggest Samsung's tri-fold device will offer as much as 12.4 inches of gorgeous screen real estate, thus aiming to essentially replace both your traditional phone and tablet.

If you think the Huawei Mate XT is big, wait until you see what Samsung is preparing.

That number would be reached with the display unfolded to a maximum, of course, trumping the 10.2-inch screen size of Huawei's pioneering Mate XT. Coincidentally (or not), Samsung's extravagant first-gen foldable super-flagship could reach around 10.5 inches in a partially unfolded form, which also sounds pretty amazing.

Another interesting detail rumored today is the possible absence of under-display camera technology, which could actually be good news for the quality of this bad boy's front-facing snapper. On the not so bright side of things, that obviously means Samsung will need to drill a hole into the primary screen of its first-ever triple-folding phone/tablet, thus reducing its overall elegance... a tiny bit.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.