Samsung’s Next Salvo Against Apple: A Triple-Folding Smartphone

In a first for the U.S. market, Galaxy Z TriFold folds inward twice like a pamphlet.

SEOUL—The U.S. will soon get its first mass-market smartphone that folds not just once, but twice.

Representative image.

Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z TriFold is expected to hit the shelves in the U.S. as early as the first quarter of 2026, after it goes on sale in South Korea and elsewhere this month.

The new phone is the latest salvo in Samsung’s long-running battle with Apple, which is foldable phone">expected to introduce its own foldable phone—likely a once-folding model—later next year. Samsung has offered foldable phones since 2019.

The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold is the first multi-folding phone to be released globally. Huawei has already introduced a tri-folding phone that is mainly sold in China.

Chart.

The product

When fully open, the TriFold’s display measures 10 inches diagonally, about the size of a standard tablet. The left panel folds inward once and then is folded again, so that the fully folded phone resembles a regular smartphone in size with a separate 6.5-inch cover screen.

The “in-folding” design is meant to protect the large screen, which isn’t exposed when the phone is fully folded. Huawei’s Z-shaped folding pattern exposes part of the large screen when folded.

The thinnest part of the phone, the left-side panel, is 3.9 millimeters thick—equivalent to five credit cards—and the device is 12.9 millimeters thick when completely folded. It weighs 309 grams or about 11 ounces.

Why you might want one

When open, the larger screen allows users to run multiple apps at once so they can do things like write an email while looking at a document that remains open on the other side. It can switch to a mode that makes it function like a personal computer when connected to a keyboard and mouse. When fully closed, the device is small enough to fit into a pocket.

The Galaxy Z TriFold delivers the “perfect balance between portability, premium performance and productivity all in one device,” said Samsung co-CEO Roh Tae-moon, who heads the firm’s consumer electronics division.

Why you might not

Samsung hasn’t announced the U.S. price yet, but in South Korea the phone will start at the equivalent of about $2,445. “The practical user is unlikely to go for this,” said Tom Kang, a research director at Counterpoint Research, a tech-market analytic firm.

Also, a tri-folding phone is bulky compared with a regular smartphone or even other foldable phones that fold only once. It remains to be seen how durable the TriFold’s two hinges will be.

Do foldables have a future?

Since Samsung’s first foldable phone nearly seven years ago, sales of folding phones have steadily grown globally. Still they remain a niche product in the U.S., accounting for just 2% of smartphone shipments last year, according to Counterpoint. The research firm says that could rise to as high as 6% by 2027 with Apple’s entry.

Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com