Samsung flexes its foldable lead one day before Apple joins the race

Apple’s big hardware event is scheduled for tomorrow, September 9, and the Cupertino-based company is finally expected to unveil a new device category that competitors like Samsung have spent years mastering: foldables. However, before the tech giant gets to enter the foldable market, Samsung is sharing figures to highlight just how much of a head start it’s working with.

Roughly a month after launching the Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the all-new wide Z Fold 8, Samsung is highlighting how the lineup is changing foldable preferences in the US.

According to Samsung, the combined US purchase numbers of the new series are running 30% ahead of the Z Fold 7, which set a pre-order record last year by being the most pre-ordered Z Fold device ever.

Within the current lineup, book-style foldables are clearly the favorites. That’s because the Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Z Fold 8 make up roughly 80% of Samsung’s current Galaxy Z series purchases, leaving the clamshell Z Flip 8 with the remaining 20%.

That, however, isn’t necessarily bad news for the Flip, as it seems to be serving a completely different purpose.

Flip is the gateway to Samsung

The Z Flip 7 was already winning over buyers. Now, the Z Flip 8 is doing more of the same. According to Samsung, roughly 30% of Galaxy Z Flip 8 buyers are switching from competing brands, “and most of those buyers are first-time foldable owners.”

Elsewhere, the clamshell is also serving as a gateway into the Samsung ecosystem. The company says that when compared to the Z Fold 7, more than three times as many Z Flip users are now upgrading to the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra.

These figures from Samsung come right as Apple prepares to enter the foldable race. While not exactly a dig at the iPhone maker, Samsung did say that its foldables are “refined through eight generations of innovation,” allowing the company to expand “what’s possible with foldables while giving consumers the flexibility to choose the experience that fits the way they live, work, and create.” Whether that’ll be enough to keep shoppers from Apple’s first potential foldable remains to be seen.