Key Takeaways
- Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 preorder performance has exceeded expectations across major markets including USA, Europe and South Korea, validating Smart Analytics Global (SAG)’s bullish outlook for the foldable smartphone market.
- Galaxy Z Fold 8 alone is driving the momentum, demonstrating that consumers increasingly prefer the wide fold book-style form factor.
- SAG forecasts global foldable smartphone shipments to grow more than 30% in 2026, with wide fold devices increasing their shipment mix to 44%, rising further to 65% in 2027.
- The success of Fold 8 reinforces SAG’s long-held view that wider foldables represent the future of premium smartphones and will become the dominant foldable form factor.
- Apple’s expected entry into the foldable smartphone market later this year is expected to further accelerate the industry’s growth trajectory. Combined with Samsung’s continued innovation and Huawei’s strong momentum in China, Apple’s arrival is likely to expand consumer awareness, attract new premium users, and drive the next wave of foldable smartphone adoption globally.
Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold 8 preorder performance provides one of the strongest validations yet of Smart Analytics Global (SAG)’s long-standing outlook for the global foldable smartphone market.
Across every major region, preorder demand significantly exceeded the previous generation, with the strongest momentum coming from the Galaxy Z Fold 8. More importantly, the results demonstrate that consumers are increasingly embracing the wide fold form factor, reinforcing SAG’s view that the industry is entering the next stage of foldable smartphone evolution.
Record-breaking preorder performance
Samsung reported that combined preorder volume of the Galaxy Z8 series increased approximately 30% year over year in the United States, reaching a new record for the Galaxy foldable series. Nearly half of all preorders were generated by the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a remarkable achievement considering the Fold remains the higher-priced model.
The momentum was equally encouraging across Europe, where combined preorder volume increased approximately 20% YoY, with the Galaxy Z Fold8 accounting for around 40% of total foldable preorders.
South Korea delivered the strongest performance. Combined preorders surged nearly 40% YoY, while the Galaxy Z Fold8 alone represented approximately 70% of total foldable preorders, surpassing one million units and setting another domestic preorder record.
The consistency across these three major markets clearly indicates that demand is shifting beyond early adopters and increasingly favoring the wider book-style foldable design.
Why wide fold is becoming the preferred form factor
SAG has consistently argued that the next phase of foldable smartphone development is no longer about making smartphones fold thinner or lighter.
Instead, the industry’s focus is shifting toward building devices that better match how people naturally consume information and interact with AI.
Compared with narrow foldable smartphones, wide fold devices offer several fundamental advantages:
- A display that better matches the natural horizontal field of human vision.
- More comfortable reading and document editing.
- Larger viewing area for videos with fewer black borders.
- Better multitasking with multiple applications displayed simultaneously.
- A significantly improved productivity experience for AI-powered workflows.
From an ergonomic perspective, the wider display resembles the layout of traditional books, tablets and laptop screens, making it more intuitive for users transitioning between folded and unfolded modes.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into smartphones, users are spending more time interacting with AI assistants, generating content, editing documents and managing multiple windows simultaneously. These experiences naturally benefit from a wider display rather than a taller, narrower screen.
This is precisely why SAG forecasts the wide fold category to become the dominant form factor over the coming years.
Fold 8 validates SAG’s long-term forecast
Samsung’s strong preorder performance closely aligns with SAG’s previously published market outlook.
SAG forecasts global foldable smartphone shipments will grow more than 30% in 2026, significantly outperforming the overall smartphone market.
More importantly, we forecast the industry mix to continue shifting rapidly toward wide fold devices.
- Wide fold smartphones are forecast to account for 44% of global foldable smartphone shipments in 2026.
- Their shipment mix is expected to further increase to 65% in 2027, making wide fold the dominant foldable smartphone form factor worldwide.
Exhibit 1: Global Foldable Smartphone by Form Factor Forecast
Samsung’s encouraging Fold 8 pre-0rder numbers, Huawei’s Pura X series momentum in China, and improving consumer acceptance are already supporting this transition.
Apple’s entry will accelerate the next growth cycle
While Samsung is leading today’s premium foldable smartphone market, the next major catalyst is expected to come from Apple’s entry into the category later this year.
SAG forecasts Apple’s first foldable iPhone to significantly expand the overall addressable market rather than simply redistribute existing demand. Samsung’s strong Galaxy Z Fold 8 preorder performance demonstrates that consumer acceptance of premium wide fold smartphones has reached a new level, providing a solid foundation for Apple’s market entry later this year. Apple’s arrival is expected to attract a large base of premium iPhone users who have been waiting for a foldable device, bringing millions of first-time foldable smartphone buyers into the category.
Consequently, SAG forecasts Apple will become the world’s third-largest foldable smartphone vendor in 2026, accounting for approximately 25% of global shipments despite launching late in the year. From 2027 onwards, Apple is expected to overtake Samsung and become the global market leader, as its ecosystem strength, loyal customer base, and premium positioning further accelerate mainstream adoption of foldable smartphones.
Exhibit 2: Global Foldable Smartphone Vendor Share Forecast
More importantly, Apple’s expected wide fold design further validates the industry’s transition toward the wide fold form factor. Combined with Samsung’s continued innovation and Huawei’s strong leadership in China, Apple’s arrival is expected to accelerate mainstream consumer adoption, strengthen developer and ecosystem support, and encourage broader investment across the foldable smartphone supply chain.
Rather than competing solely for market share, these three vendors are collectively expanding the foldable smartphone market, creating a much larger premium segment than previously anticipated.
The beginning of the next chapter
For several years, the foldable smartphone industry has searched for the product capable of moving beyond early adopters into the mainstream premium market.
Galaxy Z Fold 8 appears to represent that important turning point.
Instead of focusing solely on thinner designs or hardware specifications, Samsung has refined the overall user experience through a wider display, improved ergonomics, stronger AI capabilities and enhanced productivity. These are exactly the long-term trends that SAG has highlighted in its previous foldable smartphone research.
With Apple expected to join the market later this year and Huawei continuing to strengthen its domestic leadership, the industry is entering a new phase where innovation, ecosystem development and user experience will drive adoption.