In This Article
- Samsung is stopping sales of the Galaxy Z TriFold in South Korea this week, with final restocks coming to other markets before inventory runs out
- Production costs were so high that Samsung lost money on every unit sold, even at $2,899
- Every restock sold out within minutes, but rising memory and storage component costs made the device unprofitable
The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold sells out in minutes every time Samsung restocks it. The majority of the reviewers have praised the unique device, its build quality, and the specially designed aspects. Buyers are eager to purchase it; however, Samsung is ending production anyway because the economics don’t work.
Korean publication Donga reports Samsung will stop selling the device in South Korea on March 17, roughly three months after launch. In the United States, the report mentions that the TriFold will be available until “the current production volume is sold out,” which sounds like one or two more restocks before it completely vanishes from the market.
Moreover, Samsung has confirmed to Bloomberg that the company is going to wind down sales of Galaxy Z TriFold, as the product was originally intended as more of a technological showcase rather than a flagship smartphone.
This isn’t about demand. Reports indicate it mostly sells out within minutes of becoming available on Samsung’s website. The problem is component prices. DRAM and NAND flash storage costs have been significantly increased since their launch, making Samsung’s already-thin profit margins unsustainable.
The Economics Problem
Production costs on the TriFold were high enough that Samsung lost money on every unit sold, even at an almost $3,000 price point. The company charged nearly three thousand dollars per phone and still couldn’t turn a profit.
With component costs rising after launch, the price of the Galaxy Z TriFold would probably have to increase as well.
Samsung is forced to make a choice: raise the price on an already expensive device and deal with customer response, or halt production and move the focus to other devices.
They chose the latter.
Technology Showcase of a Flagship Device, Not a Mass-Market Product
Industry insiders say the TriFold was always meant as a technological showcase of their flagship device. Samsung wanted to prove it could build a mass-market tri-folding phone, not create a product designed to drive revenue.
The phone earned positive reviews across the board. Its fully unfolded display offers a tablet-sized screen of over 10 inches in a pocket-friendly body, which is a genuine engineering achievement. But engineering achievements need viable business models. And certain market demand too.
What Samsung’s Doing Instead
Samsung remains committed to foldables and will launch new models, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, and a rumored wide foldable soon. The company’s broader foldable roadmap includes the next-generation devices that are all set to launch in the coming few months, as well as a wider foldable model.
There’s no word on a successor to the Galaxy Z TriFold for now.
Final Galaxy Z TriFold restocks are expected this week in South Korea and in the coming weeks in the US. No successor currently planned.
