[Herald Economy=Kwon Je-in] It is anticipated that Samsung Electronics will launch the world’s thinnest foldable phone this July. This move is seen as Samsung’s counterattack amidst pressure from Chinese companies. Samsung is set to increase both performance and innovation with a thinner and lighter foldable phone.
According to SamMobile on the 9th, the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7, which will be unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event, is expected to be 3.9mm thick when unfolded and 8.9mm when folded. If released as anticipated, the Fold 7 will become the world’s thinnest smartphone. Currently, the thinnest smartphone is Oppo’s “Find N5,” measuring 4.21mm unfolded and 8.93mm folded.
The new model will have a larger screen and will be lighter than its predecessor. The internal screen size will increase from 7.6 inches to 8.2 inches, while the external screen will expand to 6.5 inches. The weight is expected to decrease to 236 grams, which is 3 grams lighter than the previous model.
Since last year, Samsung Electronics has aggressively entered the competition for thinner devices in response to the aggressive moves by Chinese companies. Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo have been releasing thinner smartphones in succession, threatening Samsung’s stronghold as the leader. Last year, Samsung also released a Special Edition (SE) version that was thinner than the “Galaxy Z Fold 6,” and this year, they introduced the “Galaxy S25 Edge,” a bar-type smartphone.
According to IDC, Samsung’s market share in the foldable phone segment fell rapidly from 83.6% in 2021 to 32.9% last year. Meanwhile, Huawei’s market share rose from 9.3% in 2021 to 23.1%, narrowing the gap between the two companies to 9.8 percentage points.
Samsung is strengthening its competitiveness by enhancing the performance of slimmer and lighter smartphones. It plans to improve the camera, which was considered a weakness of foldable phones, and advance the artificial intelligence (AI) features introduced in the Galaxy S25 series.
In a recent post on its newsroom, Samsung Electronics stated, “Users want bigger screens, better cameras, and stronger performance in one hand,” and announced its intention to offer an “ultra experience” that redefines everyday interactions.
However, the sales environment for foldable phones varies domestically and internationally. In Korea, expectations for heightened subsidy competition are rising due to the resumption of SK Telecom’s new subscriptions and the repeal of the mobile handset distribution structure reform law.
SK Telecom previously lost over 500,000 subscribers due to a hacking incident. With the repeal of the handset law next month legalizing subsidy competition, it is expected that SKT will aggressively attract subscribers and expand smartphone sales.
In the global market, the imposition of “reciprocal tariffs” by the Trump administration in the U.S. poses a variable. The Trump administration announced plans to impose a minimum 25% tariff on all smartphones produced overseas and imported into the U.S. Market research firm Counterpoint Research revised its forecast for this year’s smartphone shipment growth from 4.2% to 1.9%, reflecting the uncertainty of U.S.-imposed tariff policies.