Samsung said its new foldable phones drew 1.44 million pre-orders in South Korea and are running 30% ahead of last year's models in the United States.
Key Points:
- Samsung reported US pre-orders for the Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra running 30% above the previous record generation over the first 12 days.
- South Korean buyers reserved 1.44 million units in a single week, the largest pre-order total in the company's domestic history.
- Counterpoint Research still expects Samsung's foldable share to fall to 32% this year as Apple enters the category.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Pre-Orders Break Company Records
The company released the figures Wednesday, covering the first 12 days of American pre-orders ahead of the Aug. 7 retail launch of the Z8 lineup. The Galaxy Z Fold 8, a wider and cheaper model that debuted this cycle, accounted for nearly half of those orders across carriers and retailers.
Its Lavender finish sold out on Samsung's American web store before the pre-order window closed.
South Korean buyers reserved 1.44 million units between Jul. 28 and Aug. 3, a seven-day total that exceeded every previous pre-order week in Samsung's domestic smartphone history.
Europe set its own mark, with orders topping the prior foldable record by more than 17% and the Fold 8 taking over 40% of regional demand. Samsung also counted three times as many Flip owners moving to a Fold as in the last generation, and said one in four American buyers added a Galaxy Watch.
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Counterpoint And Analysts Weigh Apple's Entry
Counterpoint Research projects global foldable shipments will rise 21% this year, with Apple taking 25% of the market in its first attempt at the category.
Samsung would slip to 32% from 40%, while Huawei holds 24% and Motorola falls to 8%. Liz Lee, an associate director at the firm, called 2026 a new phase for foldables and credited Apple with lifting consumer awareness across the premium tier.
Linda Sui, founder of Smart Analytics Global, argued that competition among foldable makers has moved away from thinness and toward a more natural everyday phone experience. She expects wide-fold designs to become the industry default, and sees Apple's arrival accelerating adoption in the United States late this year.
Foldable Phones Still A Premium Niche
The economics remain awkward. Samsung priced the Fold 8 at $1,899 and the Fold 8 Ultra at $2,099, each $100 above its predecessor, and blamed memory chip costs driven higher by demand from the artificial intelligence industry.
Both figures sit near three times the price of a conventional flagship, a gap that analysts say keeps foldables tied to premium buyers.
Samsung shipped the first Galaxy Fold in 2019, and early units carried visible creases, fragile screens and a reputation for novelty rather than daily utility. Seven years later the category still amounts to roughly 20 million units a year against well over a billion handsets sold, which is why this pre-order cycle carries more weight than its raw numbers suggest.
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