Samsung says the iPhone Duo is sending shoppers toward foldables in general. Richard Chang, Corporate Vice President of the Mobile Division at Samsung UK and Ireland, says demand for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 family is up 16% since launch.
Chang shared the numbers in comments to Forbes, adding that active Google searches for Samsung foldables jumped 300% over the past month. He did not name Apple, though the first foldable iPhone is the obvious new factor in the category. Chang runs Samsung’s mobile business in the UK and Ireland, so the figures may not reflect US demand.
Samsung Is Using the iPhone Duo Launch to Pitch Its Own Foldables
Chang said foldables have “officially gone mainstream,” and he leaned on Samsung’s head start. The company says it pioneered the category eight years ago and now sells three distinct foldable form factors, while competitors are only releasing their first.
He called the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 series the company’s most-awarded foldable generation yet. For anyone tempted to leave the iPhone, Chang pointed to Smart Switch as the way to move over to a Galaxy phone.
That confidence sits next to reports that Samsung is weighing an early Galaxy Z TriFold 2 in response to Apple’s foldable. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 has been on sale since early August, so it already has a head start on the iPhone Duo.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Is Lighter, Thinner and $100 Cheaper
On paper, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 has the edge. It weighs 201 grams against 254 grams for the iPhone Duo. Unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold8 is 4.5mm thick and the iPhone Duo is 5.2mm.
Both phones have a 7.6-inch inner display. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 pairs two 50MP rear cameras with Galaxy AI, and the iPhone Duo has two 48MP rear cameras, a 5.4-inch outer display, a titanium foldable design and Apple Intelligence with the new Siri AI. It also supports Apple Pencil (USB-C).
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 also costs less. It starts at $1,899 in the US, while the iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 and offers storage up to 2TB.
Durability is where Apple pushes back, since the iPhone Duo’s IP68 rating beats the Galaxy Z Fold8 on dust and water protection. Apple is also expected to sell plenty of them, based on the Counterpoint forecast of 6 million iPhone Duo units in 2026.
The iPhone Duo goes on sale Friday, October 23.
