Samsung’s latest phone release is an Apple preview

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride: Samsung launched a trio of foldable smartphones yesterday that may only be getting attention because of similarities to the long-rumored folding iPhone that Apple is expected to launch this fall.

Twins: Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 8 has nearly identical dimensions to the unreleased foldable iPhone, according to the Wall Street Journal:

• Samsung implemented a new, passport-sized wide build that was designed with video-watching, gaming, and social media scrolling in mind, the company said.
• The Z Fold 8 costs $1,899, while the foldable iPhone is expected to surpass $2,000.
• “Based on using the Z Fold 8…[the foldable iPhone] is going to be a home run,” Bloomberg’s Apple guru, Mark Gurman, posted on X.

The other two phones in Samsung’s new lineup are the tall $2,099 Z Fold 8 Ultra—designed for productivity—and the $1,199 clamshell-style Z Flip 8.

Once Apple launches its answer to Samsung’s riddles three, the new product could nab as much as 25% of the global foldable phone market, eroding Samsung’s 40% share and Huawei’s 30% share, according to Counterpoint Research. But Apple’s entrance into foldables—a category that researchers said accounted for just 1.6% of smartphones sold last year—could also benefit Samsung, by popularizing the niche sector that it’s dominated since 2019.—ML