Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 launch: price, specs, availability

Samsung on Wednesday launched its latest foldable smartphone, aiming to maintain its leadership in the product category it pioneered. apple may enter the market.

The South Korean tech giant announced the Galaxy Z8 series at an event in London. Here are the three devices and their prices:

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra ($2,099)Galaxy Z Fold8 ($1,899)Galaxy Z Flip8 ($1,199)

Samsung’s foldable products typically consist of two devices: the Fold brand, which opens like a book, and the Flip device, which opens like a traditional flip phone.

However, Samsung currently has three products: the highest-spec smartphone in the series, the Ultra, and a product similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold7.

Ben Wood, chief analyst and chief marketing officer at CCS Insight, told CNBC that “2026 is a big year for foldable iPhones, and it’s almost certain that Apple will launch a foldable iPhone before the end of the year.”

“So for Samsung, which has been a market maker in this category, this is an important announcement because it immediately gives Apple’s participation in any category another level of legitimacy.”

According to various reports, Apple plans to launch its first foldable iPhone this year, further increasing competition in a market that Samsung has dominated since launching the first foldable iPhone in 2019.

Samsung’s latest products are more expensive than their predecessors, which was expected by many. This is due to rising component costs, especially memory chip prices, which are rising due to high demand from the AI ​​industry and lack of supply.

These same memory chips are also installed in smartphones. The Z Fold8 Ultra costs $100 more than its comparable predecessor, the Z Fold7. The Galaxy Z Flip8 is also $100 more expensive than the Z Flip7.

CCS Insight’s Wood said he was surprised there wasn’t a bigger price increase, which suggests Samsung may not be passing on all of the price increases to consumers.

“This highlights the fact that Samsung is keen to maintain a competitive price point,” Wood said.

Wood added that the Ultra’s $2,000-plus price tag will be a “talking point.”

Galaxy Z Fold8 is a new style device. Samsung said it opens like a book and is smaller than the Ultra, but with a 4:3 screen ratio designed to improve the content viewing experience.

“It’s not all that surprising to see Samsung offering different form factors for its fold portfolio, since there are widespread rumors that Apple is considering a widescreen foldable for its next iPhone, and Samsung and other companies want to get ahead of that,” Wood said.

Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Fold8 both work QualcommSnapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

There are some differences between the two devices. The Ultra has a more advanced camera with three different lenses and a larger battery.

There’s a $200 difference between the Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra, but at the higher end of the market, where buyers are willing to pay more, the difference may not be that big. That means Samsung needs to give customers a clear reason to buy the Fold8 over the Ultra model.

“The Z Fold8’s lower specs mean Samsung needs to make a very strong sales proposition for this device so that consumers understand why they would choose this device over the Z Fold8 Ultra, which is only $200 more expensive,” Wood said.