Samsung, the tri-fold will arrive by 2025: "In the AI era, smartphones will be central."
Samsung will launch its first three-way foldable smartphone by the end of this year. The much-rumored tri-fold , which has been rumored for months and which many expected to see at the Galaxy Unpacked event on July 9 in New York, is real and will be on the market by 2025 .
“I expect we will be able to launch the three-section foldable phone within this year,” TM Roh , head of Samsung's Mobile Experience division, said in an interview with The Korea Times .
While the official name hasn't been finalized yet, the device is thought to be called the Galaxy G Fold .
The fact that Roh chose to share this news exclusively with the Korea Times , and that Unpacked New York effectively closed the 2025 cycle of events with the launch of the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 , suggests that the tri-fold will initially launch in South Korea and China, key markets for Samsung.
There seems to be no doubt about its imminent release. Minseok Kang , Samsung's director of smartphone planning, told us: "Research and development is ongoing. If there are no problems with mass production, we will announce it."
Roh also told the Korea Times that “right now we are focusing on perfecting the product and its usability,” and that a “final decision” will be made “when the device is close to completion.”
Samsung has already pushed the limits of innovation with the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 , a book-style foldable that, for the first time, reaches the thickness and weight of a traditional smartphone, such as the Galaxy S25 Ultra .
This is a significant milestone for the South Korean company, a pioneer in the foldable sector since 2019 , and today surrounded by increasingly fierce competition.
Google , Motorola and especially Honor have introduced devices that challenge Samsung in terms of thinness and size of their external displays, while Huawei has already marketed a tri-fold called the Mate XT in China.
Now that Samsung has managed to create a foldable phone that can directly compete with traditional smartphones, the real question is how future devices will evolve.
The company recently launched an even thinner version of its Galaxy S25, called the Edge , which, at just 5.8 mm thick, is currently Samsung's thinnest phone ever. Will the trend toward miniaturization continue? And what should we expect from the South Korean company's next major launch?
“Each new model takes inspiration and technologies from its predecessors,” Kang explains. “One example is Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which we used on the S25 Ultra and now also on the Galaxy Fold 7. Many of the technologies developed for the Fold 7, such as stronger glass and lighter materials, will also be adopted in future bar-type devices [a term that indicates smartphones with a classic, non-foldable design, ed.]. These innovations will improve both the performance and the thinness of the devices.”
Minseok Kang, who led the planning of some of the most iconic Galaxy smartphones – from the Galaxy S4 to the S6 Edge , from the S8 to the S10 , to the first-generation foldables – is already looking beyond next year.
Indeed, new wearable devices with integrated AI are emerging on the horizon, capable of offering immersive experiences and natural voice interactions. Many of these don't even have a display and aim to replace the traditional smartphone , freeing users from "screen addiction."
An example of this is the ongoing project between OpenAI and Jony Ive , a former Apple designer, who are working on a device that will not be a smartphone .
Meta and EssilorLuxottica are also launching smart glasses with advanced AI capabilities. This raises a crucial question: will smartphones lose their centrality in the next three to five years?
"We're thinking carefully about which design or format is best suited to deliver truly meaningful experiences to users," Kang replied. "For now, we believe the smartphone will continue to be the center of the AI experience. This is because, to deliver truly personalized interactions, the ability to collect and process data in real time is essential. And of all devices, the smartphone remains the most suitable, both for its power and its ability to connect and collect data. That said, we're also working on an ecosystem of connected devices—such as smart watches, earphones, and other smart accessories—that, together with the smartphone, will help create a seamless and seamless AI experience. We believe that the various existing smartphone configurations will become increasingly central as the AI experience evolves."
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