Aug. 7, 2026, 8:09 p.m. ET
Samsung is betting that foldable smartphones are ready for the mainstream.
Eight years after introducing its first folding phone, the tech giant believes advances in design, portability and productivity can help transform what was once a niche category into a compelling alternative to traditional smartphones.
Ahead of Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in London, tech columnist Marc Saltzman sat down with Yoonie Joung, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, to discuss the company’s foldable strategy, efforts to grow in the U.S. market, and how emerging technologies like AI-powered wearables could shape the future of mobile devices.
Editor’s note: Responses have been edited for clarity.
Marc Saltzman: The Galaxy Unpacked event every summer is tied to the Z-Series family of devices. Why are foldable phones important to Samsung?
Yoonie Joung: As you mentioned, the foldable category is very unique, and we really think it’s a very important category for several reasons. I think it was eight years ago when Samsung first launched the foldable form factor, and now we’re out with the eighth edition of it. I think the overall mission of Samsung is to launch technology that consumers will really appreciate, really love, and that will enhance their everyday lifestyle. That’s why we don’t take safe bets. Although it might be risky, we want to be the first to try something very daunting and challenging, and introduce that to the market. That’s where this new category of foldables came in. We also did a lot of user research. What we found was that some users were very happy with the foldables, but they wanted some different features as well, which leads us to this year’s lineup.
We have [Galaxy Z Fold8] Ultra in this lineup for productivity, and then some really wanted the portability of the Flip. Some really wanted media consumption — a more immersive kind of experience. And that has led us to develop a new form factor of [Galaxy Z] Fold8. We wanted to come up with various types of form factors to really suit the wants and needs of consumers, and that’s why this is really important.
I think foldables are also important because now the smartphone market, along with the mobile phone market, is very much saturated. [Foldables] can help attract potential customers, or maybe competitors’ users would like to switch to this new form factor because you can only find it in Samsung Galaxy — another reason why this is important.
I think there are many competitors who are also launching foldables this year, so I’m hoping that this will mark the year when foldables become mainstream.
Marc Saltzman: You mentioned that one of your main competitors may launch a foldable phone for the first time. But with eight years of experience, and now three different devices, Samsung seems to be sitting pretty in this space.
I believe one of your objectives as president of Samsung Electronics North America is to help grow market share, but that could be very challenging in an ecosystem dominated by only a couple of players. Is there more that Samsung can do to woo customers on competing devices?
Also, congratulations on Samsung reclaiming the No. 1 smartphone spot globally. How could you achieve that in the U.S.?
Yoonie Joung: The U.S. is the biggest market and the most challenging for Samsung. We don’t aim to be the brand that sells the most mobile phones; we want to be the most beloved brand in the U.S.
To do that, it’s a very intricate process and it involves a lot of things, but I think first we understand that we want to come up with innovative technologies and introduce them to the U.S. market. We also don’t want to settle; we want to come up with new use cases and new services to really fulfill the needs of users that might not even know what we have at the moment. We have tried to not only upgrade the level of the products, but also upgrade the level of the service that we offer — like [Samsung] Care Plus, which is the product insurance program. We have Samsung Health, which is also a fantastic service, and Samsung Wallet, too.
We have tried to make that blend into everyday life so that it becomes something you don’t really notice and becomes part of an everyday lifestyle.
We understand the consumer journey is very important — to understand their behavior before they purchase, when they’re in the search mode. Also, the post-purchase learnings are very important. For example, if they want to get a certain part repaired, how fast are we responding to that? How fast are we returning the product to them when they are complaining about certain discomfort? How are they responding to that as well? All of that needs to come in for people to really believe that they’re satisfied with the Samsung brand. That’s when they will be happy with the brand and feel that a Samsung product actually enhanced their lifestyle. Only then can we believe that our brand value will go up. As CEO, rather than just focusing on the numbers, we’re focusing on long-term vision to really invest so that we get [consumers] in the right way.
Finally,we’re talking a lot about mobile, like [Galaxy] Watch and [Galaxy] Buds, and I’m sure you heard about the new Intelligent Eyewear that we’re also launching. But we really want to have balanced growth throughout the whole ecosystem of Samsung; for example, like [Samsung] Home. Appliances like TVs and refrigerators already have AI-embedded features, and I think once they experience it, they’ll notice how everything is very seamlessly connected within the Galaxy and Samsung ecosystem — a holistic experience.
Marc Saltzman: Speaking of wearables, where do you envision mobile technology will be in, say, 10 years?
Yoonie Joung: Well, I think with AI, and with many different types of wearables, many were saying, “what is the one essential device that everybody needs to have?” And there’s not a single answer to that. When we first launched [Galaxy] Watch, people thought we would use that instead of bringing their mobile phones because it has a processor, a small display, AI and a lot of things that can actually work on behalf of a smartphone. But still, to this day, I think people view watches as some kind of accessory to the smartphone, or an add-on feature. Some runners maybe will run without their smartphones and just have a watch, but it’s not a mainstream thing.
More features and functions will be added to the smartwatch and earbuds, but I can’t really envision them totally replacing smartphones. Eyewear has more potential for a standalone device because it has its own camera, AI, maybe a small display — but [I’m] not sure at the moment if this will truly replace a mobile phone.
There’s a lot of room for growth, so we’ll have to see how it all pans out in the future.
Marc Saltzman: You seem to have an affinity for the Galaxy Z Fold8. I think it’s the star of the show. Do you think this new form factor will be successful?
Yoonie Joung: Whenever we launch a new form factor, we can never be 100 percent sure whether it will take or not — if it will be a hit or a miss — but I think because we’ve based this development on user insights and research [that] we’re very confident with the [Galaxy Z] Fold8 model.
I think we found the optimal aspect ratio for this phone — the perfect balance between the larger screen, the lighter weight, the essential features that are all included. Again, it’s the right form for many of the media lovers to consume content. The initial feedback has been very positive. I have my hopes very high. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how the sales figures come in, but I think that this can become the main mainstream model or the flagship model for the foldable category.
Marc Saltzman: Thank you very much for your time.
Yoonie Joung: Thank you.
Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and is the author of the book, Apple Watch For Dummies (Wiley).
