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

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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.

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.