Samsung folds the Galaxy Z TriFold after just a few months
- Reference: 1773831773
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/18/samsung_trifold_axed/
- Source link:
[1]According to Bloomberg , Samsung will discontinue the device once existing stock runs out. A spokesperson told The Register : "The Galaxy Z TriFold was introduced as a super-premium device in limited quantities. In Korea, the strong consumer response led to all available units sold out. Customers in other countries still have the opportunity to purchase the device."
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Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold
The Korean giant launched the [3]Galaxy Z TriFold in its home market on December 12, with US customers able to buy it from January for $2,899. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, with 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of internal storage, the device's party trick was three screens connected by a pair of hinges to form one "main screen" – a 10-inch, 2160 x 1584 display – giving a tablet-like experience.
It could also function as a slightly chunky 159.2 x 75.0 x 12.9 mm phone if kept folded.
While an example of Samsung's technical prowess, the phone's high price and lack of carrier subsidies ensured it would remain a niche model, and now Samsung has abandoned the concept, with nothing similar waiting in the wings to replace it.
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The reaction from the analyst community is mixed, with several viewing the device as a successful marketing exercise and proof of concept. Others wonder whether users really want a foldable device like the Galaxy Z TriFold.
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Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal told The Register : "With foldables projected to capture less than 10 percent of the premium segment by 2030, the market remains smaller than expected. The TriFold was trying to add utility of a third screen, that was never required. Users want less screen time, not more."
Francisco Jeronimo, a Vice President at analysts IDC, told The Register the discontinuation should not be interpreted as a failure or strategic withdrawal. "On the contrary, the level of attention and engagement the device generated indicates meaningful interest in this category."
[7]Hardly anybody bought Samsung's last smartphones for AI. It hopes this year's models change that
[8]Recycling biz reckons AI features are destroying smartphone resale values
[9]Smartphones face a memory cost crunch – and buyers aren't in the mood
[10]Samsung reveals its first tri-fold phone – and its desktop mode
"The TriFold was never intended to be a high-volume, mass-market device. It was conceived as a limited-production initiative, designed to test both technological feasibility and market reception. Samsung positioned it as an exploratory project, a forward-looking concept aimed at evaluating consumer interest, usage patterns, and design viability for next-generation form factors."
Senior Omdia analyst Runar Bjorhovde agreed, telling The Register that it was likely "job done" as far as Samsung was concerned. The device showed off the manufacturer's capabilities and "captured plenty of attention."
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Bjorhovde added: "Although Samsung could have attempted to scale the product further, it would have come with too great of a risk. R&D and production costs are very high, alongside a price tag that makes it unattainable to the majority of consumers."
As well as the cost to consumers, the analyst also noted that Samsung was likely concerned about margin pressures due to surging storage and memory costs.
Bjorhovde noted Samsung wasn't alone in launching a foldable smartphone that was more about the halo effect rather than raw sales numbers, "but for Samsung – which has successfully scaled its foldable shipments into the millions of units sold annually – the commercial prospect needs to be included is its near-term roadmap."
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"Currently, it's not there, but it doesn't mean that it won't return in the future or that the initial Trifold hasn't been a success." ®
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[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-17/samsung-to-stop-selling-2-899-trifold-phone-after-three-months
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/12/02/supplied_samsung_galaxy_z_trifold.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/samsung_galaxy_z_trifold/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2abraN_tJuxFRLJ3kDheshAAAAhA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abraN_tJuxFRLJ3kDheshAAAAhA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33abraN_tJuxFRLJ3kDheshAAAAhA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/samsung_galaxy_s26_launch/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/ai_secondhand_phones/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/16/smartphones_memory_ai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/samsung_galaxy_z_trifold/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44abraN_tJuxFRLJ3kDheshAAAAhA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33abraN_tJuxFRLJ3kDheshAAAAhA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: It is over....
That's an interesting experiment .... reword the title of the article to see how many Ups (or Downs) you get!
High Cost?
"R&D and production costs are very high, alongside a price tag that makes it unattainable to the majority of consumers."
By all means make a proof of concept so you can see potential iterations of the design but if you want to take it to production that will cost a lot of money that you will have to try to recoup later on.
As for "unattainable to the majority of users", that's probably because it's stupidly priced - to recoup some of that massive R&D cost - as well as being something that most people just have no interest in owning. Trying to spin it as a sort of 'limited release' device after realising there is no real market for it and people aren't buying it sounds a bit desperate.
Re: High Cost?
If they can't make folding screens at a disposible price point, they probably aren't worth buying, because mechanically, they *will* break.
Speaking for myself, I'd consider trying a folding screen - on a budget phone that cost less than 1/4 of the price of my main phone - That means I might stretch to pay £100-150 to try out a folding screen gimmick, because it's obvious the creases would get annoying *really* quickly, and you'll be lucky if the screen lasts for a year, but maybe, just maybe, I might be wrong, so I might be willing to buy a really cheap one to find out... Unfortunately, that would mean Samsung losing a huge amount of money on every phone sold, so it won't happen.
Re: High Cost?
Trying to spin it as a sort of 'limited release' device after realising there is no real market for it and people aren't buying it sounds a bit desperate.
Obviously it would have been better if the market had bought more, but the whole thing about innovating is that you take a risk. Moreover, many Asian markets have a lot of rich people, and culturally those nations are more interested in novelty than Western markets. So having a novel, expensive phone that probably isn't a long term "keeper" wasn't the bad idea you might assume, and there's benefits if it keeps the Sammy brand current and thus supports the selling of lower tier devices. Even the R&D might lead to other products that are volume propositions.
Other types of display Samsung could now try:
Slide-out additional screen - to launch one they'd need to come out of their shell...
Transparent screen - users will probably see right through that...
Roll-up screen - they might decide to just wrap that up...
Time for them to try the braille screen - a dense array of sharp pins poke up to form braille characters and emojis.
A dedicated power user could continue to read tweets and such direct into a buttock while the device is in a back pocket.
And you could reply to messages automatically with a poop.... (Sorry, were you expecting another word?)
Don't forget the concept of three-ply quilted screens. Handy if you're caught short.
Imagining an alternative would be a stretch.
I still have my (second) LG Wing and love it to death, regardless of what the loser internet reviewers think of it. It was a great concept but didn't get love because the moron reviewers can't stand the idea that some people do *not* use their phones as game machines, and they just couldn't grasp that. That, and they couldn't "grasp" the idea that you could...grasp...the phone with a 90-degree rotation (gasp!).
$2,900 for a phone? One that eventually becomes a paperweight not because of hardware limitations but because both the manufacturer and Google keep changing the OS and eventually drop software & application support?
No. Thanks.
"Samsung was likely concerned about margin pressures due to surging storage and memory costs."
Even with 16 GB of RAM, that's likely to be a far lower proportion of the total cost- and a problem- for a $2900 phone than it would be for a 4 or 6 GB $150 (or whatever) model.
Much the same would apply to storage, I'd assume.
Yeah sure it was the Ram, the fact every foldable ever has been a flop had nothing to do with it.
Marketing-speak Translation
" The Galaxy Z TriFold was introduced as a super-premium device "
This was a purposely expensive device.
" in limited quantities "
We honestly didn't expect it to sell.
" In Korea, the strong consumer response led to all available units sold out "
Our home market is good to us / or we didn't allocate a lot of units to the home market.
" Customers in other countries still have the opportunity to purchase the device "
Our foreign markets are not good to us. We still have lots left. Buy them. Please. Pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeeee!!!!
" the discontinuation should not be interpreted as a failure or strategic withdrawal "
It failed and we are withdrawing from the market.
" ...never intended to be a high-volume, mass-market device... a limited-production initiative... an exploratory project, a forward-looking concept "
Honest, we really didn't expect - or want - it to do well. In fact, we're pleased that it failed as that's really what we wanted.
It is over....
So Samsung's Galaxy TriFold project has.... well... folded.