Samsung is celebrating “record sales” and search traffic for its Galaxy Z phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and flagship Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the latter of which is Samsung’s thinnest foldable ever. The news comes as Apple launches the iPhone Duo (earlier today for $1,999), though the South Korean tech giant certainly isn’t making any direct correlation to its biggest rival.

Either way, it’s easy to imagine Apple is making foldables more fashionable with the launch of its first-ever foldable iPhone. In contrast, Samsung has been making foldables since the original Galaxy Fold back in 2019. Competition is already fierce in regions such as China thanks to an array of domestic options, but overseas, foldable interest is evidently growing faster than ever.

Samsung Galaxy Z phone sales are up, and so is search volume

The Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra together have seen a 45% increase in sales across Europe in the nine weeks following their launch on August 7, 2026, compared with Galaxy Z Fold7 sales a year ago.

The increased interest is evident by consumer search trends, which show a significant increase in Google searches for Samsung foldables. Across major European markets, there has been an over 260% increase in searches during September, with the largest increase during the week 6th – 12th September with a 460% increase.

Source: Samsung

Of course, these statistics are based in Europe, where Samsung enjoys a higher market share than it does in the United States. In the U.S., the latest numbers from Statcounter suggest Apple’s iPhone market share is 53.5%, while Samsung lags behind at 26.15% – though it has closed the gap between August and September.

Now that the iPhone Duo has arrived, albeit with limited availability (despite delivery dates moving forward), we’d be keen to see how popular Samsung’s foldable models remain. The brand will certainly have an easier time in Europe, and it still has the edge as far as pricing goes. Admittedly, when comparing iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Samsung’s flagship foldable was still $100 more expensive at launch (from $2,099), but it has gone on sale since this. In fact, at the time of writing, the 256GB model is $1,899.99 on Amazon, and you’ll have a harder time finding the iPhone Duo enjoying similar discounts so soon after launch.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.