Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Drives Record-Breaking Pre-Orders In Europe
Samsung's new foldable phones, including the Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Flip8, and the innovative Z Fold8, launch Friday after achieving record-breaking pre-orders. The company reported over 17% higher pre-order performance than any previous foldable series. Demand for the non-flip Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra models surged by 70% compared to the Z Fold7. The uniquely shaped Z Fold8 is a standout, capturing 40% of European pre-orders and driving significant interest. High demand has led to delivery delays and popular colors selling out, with many Flip users reportedly upgrading to the larger Fold devices. Korean pre-orders also hit new highs, underscoring the strong market reception for Samsung's latest foldable lineup.
Samsung’s new suite of foldable phones goes on sale on Friday, Aug. 7. But the company has just revealed what it calls record-breaking pre-orders, and how one model is dominating public interest. Here are the details — and whether they are meaningful or misleading.
There are three new models, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip8 and the strikingly different Galaxy Z Fold8, which has a different shape from any previous Galaxy folder.
“Samsung’s Galaxy Z Series has achieved its highest-ever pre-order performance, with the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, and Z Flip8 surpassing all previous foldable smartphone records by over 17% with just one day remaining in the pre-order period,” Samsung said in a statement it shared with me, and which is also online.
That’s clearly a significant uptick in interest, especially since the figures came with a day of pre-orders still to go, but let’s also note that there are three foldable phones this year, not two as before, so some increase was to be expected.
But there’s more: pre-orders for the non-flip models (Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra) are up by 70% compared to the Z Fold7 figures. That’s an impressive figure, even with two models in the mix, and shows that Samsung’s belief that foldables are not one-size-fits-all may be on to something.
Samsung’s CEO TM Roh had previously pointed out that a new shape was coming, and the company’s commitment to a variety of shapes — more on that here.
The new form-factor model, the Z Fold8, has set “a new benchmark in foldable phone innovation and accounting for 40% of total European pre-orders,” Samsung went on.
The Z Fold8 Ultra is $100 more than the Z Fold7 for the 256GB storage version, so that will be a factor in the increase. There’s no Z Fold8 equivalent in last year’s figures to compare it to, but since the Z Fold8 starting price is $100 lower than the Z Fold7, the increased pre-order totals are the more impressive.
Pre-orders include discounts, for instance £100 off the Z Fold8 when you check out with PayPal in the U.K., not to mention discounts when you trade in a selected smartphone, plus an extra £100 off with a special code (Z8). Again, these offers end at midnight, Thursday, Aug. 6. Oh, and there’s six months worth of Google AI Pro thrown in.
The new Galaxy Z Fold8 seems to be the star of the show, with more than 40% of pre-orders in Europe and high performance elsewhere that has led to delivery dates slipping and some colors selling out. The pistachio version, for instance, has the longest wait times in the U.S. and U.K.
“Samsung also noted that three times as many Flip users are switching to the larger Fold phones than in previous generations,” Mashable pointed out. It pointed out that pre-orders in Korea broke records with 1.44 million units ordered in seven days. The Galaxy Z Fold8 is likely to account for around a million of those.
Even allowing for price increases on some models and an additional item to choose from, these are impressive numbers. And remember, if you want to snag a pre-order discount, time is running out — you have until 11.59PM tonight.