Samsung has unveiled its very first multi-folding phone, the Galaxy Z TriFold. The company said that it is intended for customers who specifically want it.
The model, priced at about 3.59 million won ($2,440.17), unfolds into a 253.1 millimetre (10-inch) display, using three panels, and it is nearly 25% larger than Samsung's latest foldable Galaxy Z Fold 7 model.
The TriFold will be produced in South Korea and will go on sale in the country on December 12. The device will be on sale in China, Singapore, Taiwan and the UAE within this year. In the US, it is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year.
Samsung has been trying to get a foot in on foldable devices where Chinese rivals like Huawei has been gaining ground. The bid comes even with the high prices and production challenges of foldable devices. Analysts say that foldable devices will likely remain a niche category for now, but the competition in the sector is expected to intensify.
Alex Lim, Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President and head of the Korea Sales & Marketing Office said "I believe the foldable market will continue to grow, and the TriFold in particular could act as a catalyst that drives more explosive growth in key parts of the segment."
He said that the new TriFold is intended for customers who specifically want it, rather than as a volume driver.
The device had Samsung's largest battery in its flagship models and supports super fast charging, which allows it to power the phone to 50 per cent in just 30 minutes.
Lim said that the pricing was a difficult decision as costs of memory chips and other components have been rising sharply.
Analysts say that the TriFold is more of a showcase of new technology rather than a volume-driving flagship. Samsung is less likely to push large volumes of the product at this stage, according to Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment and Securities, who spoke to Reuters.
China’s Huawei launched the industry’s first-ever three-way folding phone last September.
Samsung Z Trifold specifications and features
The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is a dual SIM foldable smartphone that runs on Android 16-based OneUI 8. It has an ultra slim profile measuring just 3.9 mm when unfolded. It also folds inward twice to reveal a 10-inch AMOLED inner screen with with a resolution of 2160 x 1584 pixels. In the folded state its profile measures 12.9 mm. It uses a titanium FlexHinge with two different sized hinges that work together with a dual rail design.
It runs on a 5,600mAh battery with support for 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. Its camera setup includes a 200-megapixel wide-angle, with a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. it also has a 10-megapixel selfie camera on both the cover and inner screen.
The device is powered by a customized Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and includes 16GB of RAM with storage options of 512GB or 1TB.
The 16GB/512GB model is priced at 3,594,000 KRW ($2,4443) in South Korea. In the US the price will be at around $2,500.