The Fold That Lost Its Wow Factor
When Samsung launched the original Galaxy Z Fold in 2019, folding screens felt like a genuine leap – a form factor that could replace both a phone and a tablet in one device. Early adopters lined up, tech reviewers marveled at the hinge, and Samsung positioned itself as the undisputed leader of a category it had essentially invented. Five generations later, the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip lines are still selling. Just not the way Samsung had hoped.
The foldable market has hit a wall. Sales growth has slowed considerably after early momentum, and Samsung now faces a harder question: can a product category that was built on visual spectacle survive once that spectacle becomes ordinary? The answer, at least right now, appears to be a reluctant no – or at best, a slow yes with a very uncertain timeline.
What the Numbers Quietly Reveal
Samsung does not break out foldable sales separately from its broader Galaxy lineup, which itself tells a story. When a product is beating expectations, companies tend to shout about it. The silence around precise foldable figures suggests the category is performing more like a premium niche than a mass-market replacement for the standard smartphone. The Galaxy Z Fold 6, released in 2024, received positive reviews, but reviewers consistently noted that the improvements over previous generations were incremental rather than significant enough to justify an upgrade.
Pricing remains a serious barrier. The Z Fold 6 launched at around $1,899 in the U.S., putting it firmly in luxury device territory at a time when high-quality flagship phones from Samsung’s own Galaxy S line cost nearly half as much. For most consumers running a straightforward cost-benefit calculation, the foldable form factor simply does not justify paying double. The added utility – a larger interior screen, the ability to prop the phone like a small tent – is real, but marginal for everyday tasks.
The Z Flip line, which folds vertically and prioritizes compactness and fashion appeal over screen real estate, has fared somewhat better among younger buyers. It is cheaper, more pocketable, and carries a stronger style identity. But even Flip sales have not scaled to the point where they move the needle on Samsung’s overall revenue in a meaningful way. The line lives comfortably in the premium accessory space – desirable, distinctive, but not dominant.
Competition That Was Supposed to Validate the Category
A major part of Samsung’s long-term bet on foldables was that competition would validate the format. If Google, Apple, and Chinese manufacturers all followed with foldable devices, it would signal to the market that this was the next evolution of the smartphone. That validation has arrived – but with complications.
Google released the Pixel Fold, and Chinese manufacturers including Huawei, Oppo, and Honor have introduced their own foldable devices with competitive specs and, in some cases, thinner designs than Samsung’s offerings. Rather than lifting the category, the competition has fragmented it and exposed the fact that no single manufacturer has cracked a foldable that feels obviously superior to a standard premium smartphone for general use. Apple has not entered the foldable space at all, and its restraint – whatever the internal reason – has not helped generate mass-market urgency.
The Core Problem Is Utility, Not Technology
Samsung’s foldable hardware has improved significantly. The crease down the center of the inner display is less visible than it was in early generations. The hinge is more durable. Water resistance has improved. These are real engineering achievements. But the fundamental use case question – what do I actually do better with a foldable that I cannot do with a regular phone – remains only partially answered.
Productivity is the most coherent answer Samsung has offered. The Z Fold’s larger inner screen genuinely helps with multitasking, reading documents, and running two apps side by side. For professionals who use their phones as working tools rather than primarily for communication and media consumption, the proposition has real merit. The problem is that this audience is a relatively small slice of the global smartphone market, and many of those users are already well-served by an iPad or a laptop. The foldable sits in an awkward middle zone.
Software optimization has also lagged hardware ambition. Android’s adaptation to foldable screens has improved, but app developers have been slow to build experiences that genuinely take advantage of the larger canvas. Many apps simply stretch or letterbox on the Z Fold’s inner display, which defeats part of the purpose. Google has pushed developers to adopt better foldable layouts, but adoption has been inconsistent, and the result is a device whose best-case scenario depends heavily on which apps a given user relies on daily.
Samsung is not abandoning foldables. The company has invested too deeply in display manufacturing and brand identity around the category to walk away. But the internal calculus appears to be shifting toward treating foldables as a sustained premium offering rather than the eventual replacement for standard smartphones that early marketing implied. That is a narrower, more defensible position – and a more honest one. Whether Samsung can make foldables genuinely compelling for a wider audience before the category calcifies into a permanent niche is the question the next two product cycles will answer. The Z Fold 7 will need to offer something more than a slightly better crease.
