Forget Super Bowl LXI or the next NBA final (between the San Antonio Spurs and the Philadelphia 76ers), as the most exciting and potentially unpredictable head-to-head battle of the coming months is shaping up to be the one between the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 for foldable market supremacy.
This wasn't initially predicted as a very close contest by analytics firms like Omdia and Counterpoint Research, which expected Apple to become the world's leading foldable vendor super-quickly after its belated segment entry, but over the last few months (and especially the last few weeks), the encouraging signs for Samsung have been piling up.
Could the Z Fold 8 actually outsell the iPhone Duo?
A large part of you dear readers and friends certainly seem to think so, as illustrated in a surprising (at least for me) recent survey. Specifically, more than 40 percent of over 650 respondents expect Samsung's first wide foldable device to exceed the global sales figures of Apple's rookie foldable effort (of any shape), while nearly 30 percent think the two's box-office receipts will be very similar, and only a little over 20 percent of votes are in the iPhone Duo's favor.
Will the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 be similarly successful?
680 Votes
Now, I'll admit I may have influenced these poll results with some excessively strong language in the option favoring the iPhone Duo, but if you expect Apple to merely beat and not "crush" Samsung in the foldable division, you probably still put a vote in that box instead of one of the other three.
Now, do I agree with those of you who think the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will be more popular than its direct rival? Not exactly, and I actually elaborated on my iPhone Duo expectations very recently. But I'm just one guy, and you are far too many for Apple to ignore and not start worrying... at least a little.
Let's try to be objective!
In case you're wondering where my vote went in that little survey above, it's a secret. Just kidding, I picked the "very close" option, which gathered a perfectly respectable 30 percent or so of the total votes even though I expected it to lead the contest relatively easily.
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That's because it felt like the safest option to me, but I think what I didn't anticipate was how big of a role your personal bias towards one brand or the other would play in your responses. On my part, I'll admit I really don't want to see the iPhone Duo crush the Galaxy Z Fold 8's sales results, but not (necessarily) because I like Samsung more than Apple.
Objectively speaking, the iPhone Duo doesn't look bad at all. | Image by Apple
Instead, I fear the excessive popularity of a first-gen product would teach the Cupertino-based tech giant the wrong lesson, suggesting it was a good idea to wait nearly a decade to join this market, which I insist was most definitely not.
In a way, I know that kind of compromises my objectivity too, but at least I'm realistic enough to not allow a relatively modest boost of regional demand mislead me into expecting too much from the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Sales numbers don't always correlate with quality
That's probably another thing I didn't correctly anticipate, as it's starting to feel to me like some of votes in the Galaxy Z Fold 8's favor might be the result of wishful thinking from folks who've tested or already bought the device.
Do you WISH to see the Galaxy Z Fold 8 outsell the iPhone Duo?
8 Votes
I actually haven't done either, but our in-depth Galaxy Z Fold 8 review has largely convinced me that the iPhone Duo won't be able to deliver a better overall user experience, especially given its considerably higher price than Samsung's wide foldable right now.
That just seems physically impossible to me, so I definitely wish justice will be made and the Z Fold 8 will in fact outsell its (tardy) challenger. But there are simply too many reports (still) forecasting five or six million unit shipments for the market newcomer in 2026 alone, followed by even bigger numbers in 2027. So, yes, I'm afraid the absolute best case scenario for the seemingly superior Z Fold 8 is a similar sales figure.
Check out these other articles about the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo:
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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