Samsung has sold out of its initial run of the $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone, according the company’s online store. Despite offering no trade-ins to lessen the remarkable cost of the company’s first dual-hinge foldable phone, fans have leapt onto the chance to own a piece of mobile history.
Those browsing to Samsung’s website will now see the single 512GB version of the Galaxy Z TriFold listed as ‘out of stock’ and have since minutes after it went on Friday morning (via PhoneArena).
However, the real success of the launch is completely unknown. Samsung may have sold 500 or 10,000. We simply don’t know how many of these phones were made available. Reports have suggested Samsung is only planning to sell limited numbers of phones, as a proof of concept before ramping up future versions. Other speculation has remarked that Samsung wants to get its device out there before Apple debuts its tablet-like iPhone Fold and this is one way of doing so.
Before Christmas, a report from the Korea Herald said Samsung only planned to offer 30,000 globally. It said the initial two runs, which also sold out in minutes in Samsung’s homeland, only offered 3-4,000 units in total.
“That scale is negligible compared with Samsung’s mainstream foldables. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, released earlier this year in July, recorded more than 1.04 million units in preorders alone, according to Samsung,” the reporter said.
“The contrast is deliberate. Unlike other flagship launches, Samsung did not distribute Galaxy Z TriFold units to media outlets or content creators for review loans. Industry sources describe the device as a tightly controlled, special-edition product, conceived primarily to “demonstrate market leadership and engineering capability” rather than to drive volume.”
It’s possible Samsung could have offered more in the United States, but unlikely given the more challenging logistics.
