It was already clear that Samsung was worried about the impact of the iPhone Duo on its foldable phone range, and there’s now further evidence of the Korean company’s concern.
A blogger who aggregates reports from Chinese social media says there are signs that the company is bringing forward the launch of its Galaxy Z Trifold 2, despite the seeming failure of its predecessor …
Given Samsung’s poor track record on the robustness and reliability of its foldable phones, it’s not surprising that it felt threatened by the build quality of the iPhone Duo. Even before the new model was officially unveiled, the company was criticizing the reported weight of the device.
Top comment by OrangeCar
My understanding is that the original Samsung trifold was a limited edition and that it sold out. To say that it wasn't a market or financial success completely ignores the reality that it wasn't ever supposed to be a market or financial success: it was purely a proof of concept, testing the waters to see if there was any demand for this type of device.
Estimates say between 20 and 30k were manufactured. They were priced at US$2,899 and were sold for 3 months. Those aren't terrible sales for a very niche device.
Once it was announced, it was clear that Apple had addressed a key weakness of Samsung’s foldables: vulnerability to damage caused by the ingress of dust and dirt. While Samsung’s latest folding model is only rated to IP48, leaving it vulnerable to particles as large as a grain of sand, the iPhone Duo is rated to IP68, meaning fully dustproof.
Samsung now appears to be hoping that if one fold isn’t enough, perhaps two will do the trick. Our sister site 9to5Google spotted a report suggesting Samsung plans to bring forward the launch of the Galaxy Z Trifold 2 in direct response to the iPhone Duo.
This would be a more surprising move given that the original dual-fold model wasn’t exactly a market or financial success.
The original TriFold made its US debut in January for $2,900 and was discontinued barely three months later [amid] rumors that it was sold at a loss.
Next year’s model is expected to sell for roughly the same price as the original.
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