By Jiyoung Sohn and Roque Ruiz
Can a smartphone be too big?
Samsung Electronics recently tested the limits of what's viable with the introduction of its Galaxy Z TriFold device in December. Needing to be unfurled twice, like a travel brochure, the smartphone packs a display measuring 10 inches diagonally when fully opened -- almost as big as a standard tablet.
But the South Korean firm recently said the device wouldn't get restocked globally after inventory from the small-batch first run sells out. The device is now discontinued in its home market though still available for purchase elsewhere, including in the U.S. Samsung hasn't confirmed a second-generation product either.
In an era of ever-growing smartphone sizes, the Galaxy Z TriFold shows how such an enormous device can be costly to make and difficult to mass produce.
Users with all that real estate could run three apps simultaneously, each featuring similar dimensions to an iPhone 17 Pro. Samsung pitched the mammoth phone as an engineering marvel and the "shape of what's next." A senior executive boasted the device, coupled with Apple's potential entry into foldables this year, could help usher a niche corner of the phone market into overdrive.
But Samsung tempered expectations for the gigantic device, with an executive describing it as a special-edition product for diehard fans rather than for the masses.
It's a tough time for the smartphone industry. Worldwide shipments are expected to fall a historic 12% this year, according to Counterpoint, a tech-market researcher, with heightened component costs driving up prices and dampening consumer spending. Apple and Samsung are the two biggest players.
The Galaxy Z TriFold may represent the ceiling of a yearslong experiment on phone sizes, where bigger equaled better. The most supersized mainstream phones, with prices soaring past $1,500, generally bring in the biggest profits to manufacturers. Samsung entered the foldable-phone category in 2019.
The original iPhone from nearly two decades ago sported a 3.5-inch display. By contrast, four original iPhones would fit on top of a fully opened Galaxy Z TriFold.
Samsung, according to industry analysts, only produced an estimated 30,000 devices -- or about an hour's worth of global iPhone sales. It costs $2,899 in the U.S., reaching an asking price similar to a high-end laptop. In fact, a 16-inch MacBook Pro costs less.
The Galaxy Z TriFold's hardware feats made it expensive to produce. The extra screen space demanded a bigger battery and more memory chips for increased multi-tasking. Manufacturing a display with a pair of hinges able to fold twice was a complex, costly task.
Asked at a launch event late last year about the phone's price tag, a Samsung executive said that to bring the device's price down the company had kept "cutting and cutting again."
The Galaxy Z TriFold sells at near-zero profit margins, said Liz Lee, a Counterpoint associate director, with the device being a demonstration of Samsung's technical prowess.
The novelty of the device's design also prompted Samsung to offer any buyer a one-time 50% discount on display repair costs.
Foldable phones remain a fringe, albeit novel, product with a loyal following. They accounted for just over 1.5% of all smartphone sales in 2025, according to Counterpoint.
Apple is widely expected to introduce a foldable phone of its own this year. Industry analysts don't expect it will approach anywhere the size of the Galaxy Z TriFold.
Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com and Roque Ruiz at roque.ruizgonzalez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2026 11:40 ET (15:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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