Samsung Unpacked: Foldable Phone Shipments Expected to Grow 21%! Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra Unfolds to Just 4.1mm, Supports AirDrop Cross-System File Transfer

The competition in the foldable smartphone market is intensifying, with the focus shifting beyond mere thinness to include agentive AI and cross-system ecosystems. Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) held its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event today (22nd) in London, launching three new foldable smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold8, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip8. The Fold8 Ultra unfolds to just 4.1mm and features a 200MP main camera. Samsung has also made Quick Share compatible with Apple's AirDrop, enabling two-way file transfer with iOS devices, lowering the barrier for iPhone users to switch to the Galaxy ecosystem.

According to Counterpoint Research, global foldable smartphone shipments are expected to grow by 21% in 2026. Driven by rising demand for large screens and multitasking, book-style foldables are projected to capture 65% of the overall market. Meanwhile, generative AI smartphones are expected to account for 45% of global smartphone shipments this year, rising to 52% by 2027. The convergence of foldable hardware and AI applications is becoming a defining trend.

Samsung is further segmenting its foldable lineup: the Galaxy Z Fold8 targets lightweight entertainment and content consumption, the Fold8 Ultra focuses on high-end business and professional creation, and the Flip8 continues to leverage the advantages of vertical folding for selfie, short video, and social media users.

TM Roh, President and Head of Device Experience at Samsung Electronics, stated, "As AI becomes more agentive, mobile devices will become the most personalized gateway that understands and adapts to each user." He emphasized Samsung's goal to advance premium mobile experiences and AI applications through its next-generation foldable devices.

Dual Flagship Strategy for Fold8 and Ultra: Unfolded Thickness as Thin as 4.1mm

Samsung's biggest product strategy shift is expanding its book-style foldables from a single flagship to a dual-model lineup: Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra. The Galaxy Z Fold8 weighs just 201g with an unfolded thickness of 4.5mm, making it the lightest Galaxy Z Fold to date. Its cover screen is 5.5 inches with a 10:16 aspect ratio, ideal for browsing social media and short videos during commutes. When unfolded, it reveals a 7.6-inch, 4:3 inner display that minimizes black bars in videos and games, and is well-suited for reading e-books, comics, and long articles in portrait mode.

The higher-end Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra further reduces the unfolded thickness to 4.1mm, weighing 215g, with the main display expanded to 8 inches and a 6.5-inch cover screen—clearly targeting users needing large-screen multitasking, business collaboration, and content creation.

Both Fold models adopt Samsung's new Flex Titanium structure, integrating titanium alloy film and titanium metal support plates into the foldable display. Samsung states the titanium alloy film, placed beneath the OLED panel, has 20 times the mechanical rigidity of polymer films and is about one-third the thickness of a human hair. The titanium metal support plate uses a micro-hole structure to balance durability with the flexibility required for repeated folding.

Moon Sunghoon, Head of Mobile R&D at Samsung Electronics, said the company's advantage in foldable devices comes from "connecting user needs with technologies that bring tangible benefits to daily life." He added that Samsung aims to reduce visible creases using new materials while maintaining screen strength and slim design.

200MP Camera, 8K Recording: Ultra Targets Professional Creators

In terms of hardware, both the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy. The Ultra variant further enhances thermal conductivity and heat dissipation through an expanded graphite cooling structure, supporting cross-app multitasking, AI computing, and extended content creation.

The Fold8 Ultra features a 5,000mAh dual battery and 45W wired fast charging, reaching up to 67% in about 30 minutes. The camera system is upgraded to a 200MP wide-angle main lens, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 10MP 3x optical zoom lens, supporting 8K video recording, APV encoding, and Cine LUT cinematic color grading—bringing the high-end photography and videography capabilities of previous slab-style Ultra flagships into the book-style foldable form factor.

The Fold8 comes with a 4,800mAh battery, offering up to 26 hours of video playback, and features 50MP wide-angle and ultra-wide cameras. It introduces a new "My FanCam" feature that identifies and continuously tracks a specific person during group performances, then automatically crops and outputs in Shorts or Reels aspect ratios. Dual recording allows simultaneous use of front and rear cameras, capturing both the live event and the user's reactions.

The Galaxy Z Flip8 weighs 180g with an unfolded thickness of 6.1mm, making it the lightest and thinnest Flip phone Samsung has ever made. Its 4.1-inch cover screen features a 1.25mm narrow bezel, paired with a 50MP main camera, Flex Mode hands-free shooting, horizon lock, and handheld camera mode, maintaining its positioning in the social selfie and vlogging market.

(Samsung provided)

Agentive AI: From Answering Questions to Executing Cross-App Tasks

Beyond foldable engineering, Samsung's other key product theme is agentive AI. Unlike traditional generative AI that waits for user queries, the next-generation Galaxy AI begins to understand conversations, screen content, and usage context, proactively suggesting next steps and even assisting with cross-application tasks.

For example, when a friend shares concert, restaurant, travel, or event information in a messaging app, Now Nudge can recognize the time and location in the conversation and proactively suggest checking the schedule, searching the location, or saving it to a map. The Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra can use split-screen mode to maintain the original conversation while opening maps or calendars, reducing the need to switch between apps.

Gemini Intelligence can understand the content of the screen or image the user is currently viewing. For instance, after seeing a travel recommendation on social media, simply saying "help me plan this weekend" allows the AI to search for locations, arrange routes, find restaurants, or even make reservations.

Samsung notes that Gemini's app automation currently supports over 40 applications and services. Gemini Notebook can consolidate notes, images, recordings, files, and documents into a single workspace, then drag and drop data via split-screen to convert into meeting summaries, infographics, reports, or voice summaries.

Samsung has also added an "AI Assistant Activity" dashboard in One UI 9, centrally displaying automated actions performed by AI on behalf of the user, allowing them to review activities and permission settings. As AI gains more cross-app operational capabilities, execution logs, authorization transparency, and personal data protection will become key to the widespread acceptance of agentive AI.

Quick Share Bridges AirDrop: Two-Way File Transfer Between Galaxy and iPhone

In addition to AI features, Samsung is directly tackling the switching barrier from Apple's ecosystem.

The new Smart Switch allows iOS users to wirelessly transfer data by scanning a QR code on the new Galaxy device, without needing to download an app on the iPhone. Transferable content has expanded from contacts, photos, videos, and calendars to passwords, Passkeys, call history, accessibility settings, and eSIM data.

Meanwhile, Quick Share has added compatibility with AirDrop, enabling two-way file transfer between Galaxy and iOS devices. Unlike Smart Switch's full-device data migration, this addresses the daily need for Galaxy and iPhone users to exchange photos, videos, and files.

However, AirDrop interoperability has device and software requirements. As of July 2026, the "Share with Apple Devices" feature supports the Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Z Fold8, Fold8 Ultra, and Flip8, with plans to expand to select flagship models later. The Galaxy side requires a specific version of Quick Share and Google Play services, and both devices must be within Bluetooth range.

The Galaxy Z Fold8, Fold8 Ultra, and Flip8 will open for pre-orders in select markets starting July 22. New devices also include six months of Google