Samsung’s CES showing adds weight to tri-fold foldable rumours

Recent rumours that Samsung is going to launch a tri-fold foldable phone this year appear to have been strengthened by its CES 2025 showing.

The world’s biggest phone maker – more specifically its Samsung Display arm – has been showing off a series of screen technology concepts at CES 2025 this week.

One of those is for a so-called tri-fold device – that is, a foldable phone with two rather than one hinge, allowing an even larger and more rectangular display to fold down into a normal smartphone form factor.

CNET has published photos of this concept, highlighting how that larger display could potentially be put to use.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Samsung showcasing such concepts, of course, but the likelihood of a 2025 release of a final product seems to be strengthening.

Late last year, a Samsung patent emerged for just such a tri-fold foldable. With Huawei having also released the first commercially available triple folding smartphone this past September, you can bet that Samsung won’t want to linger too far behind.

Indeed, a new report from Korean website Sisajournal claims that Samsung will launch its tri-fold device in the second half of this year. The report claims that unlike the kinked design of the Huawei Mate XT, Samsung’s phone will fold in on itself twice.

Given that foldable displays still aren’t the most robust of things, this could be a pragmatic move as much as any sort of aesthetic decision. The report cites initial durability issues with early Huawei Mate XT models.

Don’t expect Samsung’s triple folding debut to be a mass market affair, however. The report claims that the initial production run will be limited to just 300,000 units, while the price is expected to be prohibitively high.

With the current Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 retailing for close to £1,800, it seems feasible that a tri-fold model would crack the £2,000 mark.

Our team is at CES in Las Vegas right now searching out the most interesting finds from the show floor. Be sure to check out our CES 2025 hub page for all the latest.