Apple’s iPhone Duo Raises the Stakes for Samsung and Foldable Phones

Apple’s first foldable iPhone changes the competitive question around foldables. The category is no longer primarily Samsung and Chinese manufacturers competing for Android buyers: with the iPhone Duo, Apple is offering its own customers a phone that opens into a larger workspace. The device starts at $1,999 in the U.S., opens from a 5.4-inch outer display to a 7.6-inch inner display, and is due to become available October 23 after pre-orders begin October 16. 8

What Apple’s entry changes

The iPhone Duo is a conventional book-style foldable rather than a new form factor. Apple says it supports two apps at once, Apple Pencil, and Touch ID in the side button. 28 Those features make its importance strategic rather than purely technical: Apple is bringing its iPhone ecosystem to a product category that competitors have developed for years.

That can broaden consumer awareness and place more pressure on every premium foldable maker. Reuters described the segment as one long dominated by Samsung and Chinese companies such as Huawei, while remaining a niche audience. 17 Apple does not need to take the entire market immediately for the competitive balance to change; it only needs to make a foldable a credible upgrade option for high-spending iPhone owners.

Samsung’s advantage is real—but less exclusive

Samsung enters this phase with years of experience selling Galaxy Z Fold devices. That experience matters in areas that determine whether a foldable feels practical every day: hinge engineering, screen durability, multitasking behavior, app continuity, retail support, and repair operations.

But Apple’s launch weakens a simple Samsung message: that a large display which supports multiple apps is uniquely a Galaxy benefit. Duo’s two-app experience and its layouts that adapt between the outer and inner screens make familiar foldable ideas available inside iOS. 216

For Samsung, the response cannot simply be a routine specification refresh. The strongest next-generation case would be visible, everyday improvements:

• a thinner, lighter device that is easier to use closed;
• a less noticeable crease and stronger long-term durability;
• a more useful cover display;
• cameras and battery life with fewer compromises versus a conventional flagship; and
• multitasking, stylus support, and large-screen software that do more than split two apps side by side.

These are buyer-facing priorities, not confirmed Galaxy Z Fold 9 specifications. Samsung has not announced the Fold 9, so claims about its final design, features, or release timing should be treated as speculation until the company confirms them.

Chinese manufacturers can compete on experimentation

Apple’s arrival does not displace Chinese manufacturers. Huawei remains especially significant: Omdia data reported that Huawei accounted for 57% of global foldable shipments in the first half of 2026, versus Samsung’s 18%, although that period did not include the Galaxy Z Fold 8 launch. 18

That snapshot also illustrates why global market-share claims need context. Regional availability, launch timing, product mix, and whether a dataset includes the latest models can substantially change the picture.

Chinese brands have been aggressive with foldable designs and are positioned to keep pushing hardware variety. Their rivalry with Samsung and Apple is likely to keep moving the category beyond one standard book-style design. Yet Apple’s arrival gives the market something different: access to a large premium iPhone customer base that has not previously had an Apple-branded foldable option.

The market may grow quickly without becoming mainstream overnight

The available projections point to growth, but they do not erase the category’s central constraint: price. Omdia expects the global foldable market to grow by more than 20% annually through 2028, reaching roughly 36 million units. 18 That is meaningful expansion, but it remains small relative to the overall smartphone market.

At $1,999, the Duo is firmly a premium device. Reuters noted that Apple’s target customer is not yet clearly defined. 17 The product proposition is easy to understand—a pocketable phone that opens into a tablet-like display—but the trade-offs remain substantial:

• higher purchase prices than most flagship phones;
• added mechanical complexity;
• potential compromises in weight, ergonomics, cameras, and battery capacity; and
• a need for software that makes the larger display useful often enough to justify the premium.

A foldable becomes a mainstream product only when the benefit of unfolding feels routine rather than occasional.

What to watch after October 23

There is no reliable observed switching data for the iPhone Duo before it ships. Any claim about how many iPhone users will adopt it—or how many Galaxy owners will move to Apple—is a forecast, not purchase behavior.

The useful early signals will be more concrete: pre-order demand, carrier and trade-in patterns, supply availability, return rates, and whether buyers use the larger display for work, media, and multitasking rather than as an expensive novelty.

The stakes for Apple and Samsung

Apple’s immediate task is to prove that its foldable can support a profitable new premium iPhone tier. Samsung’s task is more defensive: preserve the value of its category leadership once an iPhone version exists.

The most likely near-term outcome is not one company instantly winning foldables. It is a more credible, more competitive category. Apple can bring new buyers into foldables; Samsung can defend its lead through mature hardware and deeper large-screen software; and Chinese manufacturers can keep raising the pace of form-factor experimentation. Whether that competition produces a mainstream market will depend on the unglamorous fundamentals—price, durability, cameras, battery life, and software worth unfolding for.