For years, rumors swirled that Samsung was working on a tri-fold phone. Finally, at the end of 2025, the company unveiled the Galaxy Z TriFold, a three-panel foldable phone that launched in the US in January, with a jaw-dropping $2,900 price tag. But just three months later, the device is already being discontinued.
A Samsung spokesperson recently confirmed to Bloomberg that sales of the Galaxy Z TriFold are being wound down in Korea and that the phone will be discontinued in the US once remaining inventory is cleared.
While that might come as a shock, it seems this may have been Samsung’s plan all along. According to Dong-A, a South Korean news publication, industry sources say the TriFold was always intended more as a technological showcase for Samsung than as a mass-market revenue generator.
It’s hard to argue with the timing here, also. With soaring component costs and the ongoing RAM crisis, manufacturing the TriFold reportedly left Samsung with virtually no profit margin. And if there’s no profit to be made, it’s no wonder the TriFold is already being shelved.
- Brand
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Samsung
- SoC
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Snapdragon 8 Elite
- Display
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10-inch AMOLED main screen, 6.5-inch cover screen
- RAM
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16GB
The Galaxy Z TriFold was always destined to be a niche product
It appears Samsung intentionally did not produce many of them
It’s no secret that at $2,900 (over $3,000 when you factor in taxes), the Galaxy Z TriFold was already facing a steep uphill climb. On top of being an incredibly niche device, its chances of long-term success were always questionable.
When the TriFold launched back in January, it sold out almost immediately and has since been in and out of stock, thanks to a limited initial shipment of reportedly just 20,000 to 30,000 units (via Business Korea).
It looks like Samsung deliberately kept production low to avoid being stuck with unsold inventory. So to me, that makes the idea that the TriFold was designed and released to showcase Samsung’s technological prowess and capabilities, rather than turn a profit, feel pretty plausible.
…realistically, for me, and I think many people feel the same way, it’s not just a device you want to carry around in your pocket all the time…
Foldables have always been a niche category of phones, and Samsung has known that since it entered the market in 2019. Even though the company said last year that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 had its strongest launch ever for a Z Fold device, its regular Galaxy S series phones still dominate in sales.
Looking at the numbers, Samsung reportedly plans to sell around 35 million units of the Galaxy S26 series in 2026, compared to just five million foldables in 2026 (via Maeil Business News), with new Z Fold and Z Flip models expected to arrive this summer.
Personally, I think the Galaxy Z TriFold is an extraordinary device. It’s got a massive 10-inch inner display, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, and has the largest battery in a Samsung foldable yet, with a 5,600mAh cell. It’s essentially like carrying an iPad that you can fold and slide easily into your pocket.
However, realistically, for me, and I think many people feel the same way, it’s not just a device you want to carry around in your pocket all the time, and the single-screen experience that a majority of phones offer is still what people want, especially since they’re a lot more affordable. Spending $1,000 on a phone is already hard enough, and $2,900 is an incredible stretch. So, while it’s sad to see the Galaxy Z TriFold be discontinued only three months after it was revealed, it seems this was Samsung’s intention to begin with, to show off what it can do in the foldable space, and what’s to come.
