Samsung launches Galaxy Z TriFold amid rising competition from China

Samsung entered the tri‑fold phone market on Monday with the launch of its first multi‑folding smartphone, the Galaxy Z TriFold.

The device will go on sale in South Korea on Dec. 12, with releases set for China, Taiwan, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates, while the United States will get the phone in the first quarter of 2026, according to Samsung’s press release.

The Galaxy Z TriFold will ship in one version only, according to Samsung, and it comes only in black, with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, and carries a price of 3,594,000 South Korean won, or about $2,449. There are no lower storage options at launch. Samsung confirmed that details for the U.S. rollout will come later. The company is using this release as an early test run rather than a mass-market push.

Samsung launches large tri-fold with 10-inch screen and limited supply

The new phone uses two inward‑folding hinges that open into a 10‑inch display with a 2160 x 1584 resolution. The screen comes in slightly smaller than the 11‑inch display on Apple’s 11th‑generation iPad. When the panels are folded shut, the device measures 12.9 millimeters thick, which is thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold6 at 12.1 mm and much thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold7 at 8.9 mm.

“Samsung’s first tri-fold model will ship in very limited volume, but scale is not the objective,” said Liz Lee, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, in a statement.

Liz also said the goal of the TriFold launch is to test durability, hinge design, and software performance, while collecting real‑world user feedback before any wider launch plan. Samsung built the phone to run three apps vertically at the same time, side by side, and it also supports a desktop-style mode without the need for a separate display.

According to Samsung, the TriFold carries the largest battery used in any of its foldable so far, and it supports super‑fast charging, allegedly reaching 50% in 30 minutes. Samsung confirmed that the battery system was redesigned to power the larger display and multi‑app use.

Samsung faces China pressure as Huawei and Honor move fast

The Galaxy Z TriFold is landing in a market that no longer belongs to Samsung alone. The company was one of the first major brands to push foldable phones in 2019, but the overall foldable market has stayed small while competition keeps growing.

In September, Huawei revealed its second‑generation trifold phone for China, with a folded thickness of 12.8 mm, which is slightly thinner than Samsung’s new model. This year also saw Honor expand its foldable phones into international markets. Honor was spun off from Huawei in 2020 as the company worked to avoid U.S. sanctions and grow outside China.

“The Galaxy Z TriFold reflects years of work on foldable designs and aims to balance portability, performance and productivity in one device,” said TM Roh, the recently appointed Samsung Electronics co‑CEO and head of the Device eXperience (DX) division.

The TriFold, just like most of Samsung’s recent foldables, carries an IP48 rating, meaning it is water‑resistant up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes, but offers only limited protection against dust.

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