Samsung Electronics Co. is expanding its foldable smartphone lineup to three models.

​Roh Tae-moon, President, Chief Executive Officer and Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics, said at a media briefing held after the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event at Old Billingsgate in London on July 22 that foldable smartphones have moved beyond introducing a new form factor and become part of consumers' everyday lives.

​"Foldables have moved beyond the stage of introducing a new form factor and have become part of everyday life," Roh said. "We have broadened customer choice to meet increasingly diverse consumer expectations."

​Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold8, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip8 at the event, expanding its foldable portfolio from the two-model Fold and Flip lineup it had maintained since launching its first foldable smartphone in 2019.

◇​"We Welcome More Foldable Competitors, but Seven Years of Experience Cannot Be Matched"

​Roh said he expects more companies to enter the foldable smartphone market in the future.

​"As the foldable market matures, more companies will enter," he said. "That means foldables are becoming mainstream and the market is expanding, which we welcome."

​However, Roh emphasized that Samsung's seven years of accumulated user experience will be difficult for competitors to replicate in a short period. Foldable devices are not defined solely by folding hardware, he said, but also require the operating system, user interface and third-party applications to be optimized for different display configurations.

​"The competitiveness of Samsung's foldables comes from integrating hardware innovation, Galaxy AI and the consumer experience into a single product," Roh said.

◇Galaxy AI Installed Base to Reach 800 Million Devices

​Samsung aims to increase the number of devices capable of using Galaxy AI to 800 million by the end of this year, including existing devices upgraded through software updates.

​"The competitive advantage of AI will not be how intelligent it is, but how well it understands users," Roh said. "People do not want to learn AI—they want it to provide practical help in their daily lives."

​He said AI will evolve beyond simply answering questions into agentic AI capable of completing tasks on behalf of users.

​Samsung plans to leverage both proprietary and third-party AI models. The company will use its in-house Samsung Gauss model and Bixby for Samsung applications and device functions, while deploying external models such as Google Gemini for features integrated with Google's services.

​Samsung also plans to expand partnerships beyond Google. The company is already working with Perplexity and is evaluating the adoption of additional third-party AI models.

​"We are not committed to a single AI solution," Roh said. "If an external AI model is suitable for the mobile user experience and services, we will adopt multiple AI models."

◇CEO-Led Organization to Accelerate Robotics Commercialization

​Samsung is also moving its robotics business from research and development into commercialization. The company recently established the Robotics Experience (RX) Business Promotion Office, reporting directly to Roh, bringing together robotics technologies and personnel that had previously been spread across multiple organizations.

​"We created a dedicated organization to properly begin the full-scale commercialization of the advanced development and investments we have made in robotics over many years," Roh said. "Robotics is one of the key future growth drivers for the DX Division."

​Samsung previously became the largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics and has operated its Future Robotics Task Force. The company plans to first deploy robots in manufacturing facilities to verify the technology before expanding into enterprise and consumer markets.

​Samsung is also preparing a successor to the Galaxy Ring.

​"We will not release new products mechanically according to a fixed schedule," Roh said. "We will launch them when innovations that satisfy consumers are ready. We are preparing Galaxy Ring 2 to deliver a new wearable experience."

​◇Cost Increases Beyond Supply Chain Efforts May Be Reflected in Prices

​Roh said Samsung will work closely with supply chain partners to minimize the impact of rising memory and key component costs. The company said it coordinated supply volumes and delivery schedules in advance with strategic suppliers to ensure stable production of the Galaxy Z Fold8 series.

​However, Samsung left open the possibility of reflecting cost increases in product prices if they exceed what can be absorbed through supply chain optimization.

​"We will not pass 100% of higher production costs on to consumers and will work with our partners to minimize the burden," Roh said. "However, if cost pressures exceed a manageable level, we will have no choice but to reflect part of the increase in the product's launch price."

Samsung Electronics unveiled its next generation of Galaxy devices—including foldable smartphones, smartwatches and AI-powered smart glasses—laying out a broader vision for an agentic AI ecosystem in which smartphones, wearables and eyewear work together to anticipate users' needs.

At its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in London on July 22, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Flip8, alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra2, Galaxy Watch9 and its upcoming Intelligent Eyewear, which is scheduled to launch later this year.

The company expanded its foldable smartphone lineup from two models to three by adding the flagship Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. The Fold8 Ultra features an 8-inch main display, a 200-megapixel camera and a 5,000mAh battery. It measures 4.1mm thick when unfolded and weighs 215 grams.

The standard Fold8 is designed with media consumption in mind, offering a 7.6-inch main display and a 5.5-inch cover display while weighing 201 grams. The Flip8 emphasizes portability with a weight of 180 grams and a thickness of 6.1mm, allowing users to access major apps and AI features directly from the cover screen without opening the device.

Both the Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra are the first Samsung smartphones to incorporate Flex Titanium, a structural technology combining a titanium alloy film with a reinforced titanium plate. Samsung said the redesigned internal support structure and hinge reduce thickness while improving durability and minimizing display creases. Peak display brightness has also increased 15% from the previous generation to 3,000 nits.

The new devices feature Gemini Intelligence, jointly developed with Google, enabling contextual AI interactions across multiple applications. The system understands both on-screen content and conversations, allowing users to perform tasks such as searching for a restaurant, making a reservation and adding the appointment to their calendar in a single workflow. Samsung said the AI currently integrates with more than 40 applications, including food delivery, shopping and reservation services.

Samsung also introduced Now Nudge, an AI feature that proactively recommends next actions based on context. For example, it can suggest creating a calendar event when users make plans during a conversation or recommend saving a location after it is searched. On larger foldable displays, users can simultaneously view their conversation with the AI assistant and the progress of ongoing tasks.

Samsung is also expanding AI beyond smartphones through its Intelligent Eyewear platform. The smart glasses integrate cameras, microphones, speakers and sensors into the frame, allowing them to recognize the user's surroundings. They can translate foreign-language menus into spoken audio, capture meeting documents and whiteboards, and automatically organize the content in the Samsung Notes app.

The Intelligent Eyewear runs on the Android XR platform and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor. Samsung said the device provides up to nine hours of battery life on a single charge. Eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker collaborated on the industrial design, and Samsung has revealed four design variants to date.

Samsung also strengthened the health monitoring capabilities of its smartwatch lineup. The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 features an 800mAh battery—35% larger than its predecessor—and a display with peak brightness of up to 5,000 nits. It adds dedicated trail running and diving modes while upgrading durability with an IP69K rating for water and dust resistance.

The Galaxy Watch9 monitors heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature and blood oxygen saturation during sleep to detect changes in users' health conditions. It also provides a heart health score based on sleep quality, physical activity and body composition, along with personalized exercise and recovery guidance.

Samsung said each Galaxy device has a distinct role within its AI ecosystem: smartphones understand user behavior and digital content, smartwatches monitor physical health and AI glasses perceive the surrounding environment. By combining information gathered across all three devices, the company aims to deliver proactive AI experiences that recommend actions before users issue commands.

"As AI continues to evolve, mobile devices will become the products that understand users best and integrate most naturally into everyday life, serving as the closest point of interaction with consumers," said TM Roh, president and head of Samsung Electronics' Device eXperience (DX) Division. "The Galaxy Z series will further advance the mobile experience through highly refined foldable devices while delivering personalized AI services that usher in the next era of intelligence."