Samsung Challenges Apple’s Dominance with Foldable Phones: A New Battle for the US Smartphone Market

In 2014, Apple and Samsung were locked in a fierce competition for supremacy in the U.S. smartphone market. Samsung was releasing phones with large screens, while iPhone enthusiasts demanded a response from Apple.

It took Apple some time, but they eventually responded by launching the iPhone 6, breaking away from previous iterations and providing consumers with a larger-screen option. The iPhone triumphed.

However, more than a decade later, recent smartphone sales and shipment figures indicate that the rivalry between Apple and Samsung is resurfacing. Once again, it’s all about the screen.

During the second quarter, Samsung’s U.S. shipments soared, with its market share rising from 23% to 31%, according to data from Canalys. Conversely, Apple’s market share during the same period declined to 49% from 56%.

Despite this decline, Apple continues to lead the U.S. smartphone market, accounting for the majority of new smartphone sales in the country. However, these recent slips indicate potential turbulence for Apple for the first time in over a decade.

This downturn has resulted in a 7.5% drop in Apple shares this year, underperforming all other U.S. megacap tech companies except Tesla. In contrast, Samsung’s stock has risen approximately 35% in 2025.

In July, Samsung introduced two innovative new phones featuring foldable screens. The Z Fold 7 can effectively transform into a tablet, while the Z Flip resembles an old-school flip phone with modern smartphone features. These devices were added to Samsung’s catalog of phones released this spring under its Galaxy brand, including the Galaxy S25 Edge, a thin-and-light phone.

These devices have gained significant traction on social media, particularly in durability tests. For instance, one user livestreamed bending the Z Fold 7 over 200,000 times consecutively. This video has been widely shared on social media platforms, with one version accumulating over 15 million views on YouTube.

In the past month, Samsung’s premium devices, including the Z Fold 7, were mentioned over 50,000 times on social media, and 83% of these mentions were positive or neutral, according to data from Sprout Social, a social media analytics company.

The market share figures aren’t solely attributed to user preferences. A significant portion of the shift in shipment figures during the June quarter can be attributed to tariffs, which are causing disruption within the industry as smartphone manufacturers employ various strategies to mitigate their impact on business.

However, Samsung’s gains also reflect the company’s ability to offer a wide range of products at different price points compared to Apple. This includes low-end phones, which accounted for much of Samsung’s improvement in the second quarter, as well as high-end devices that cost more than any individual iPhone.

Samsung’s Galaxy and Z phone lineup span from $650 up to $2,400. According to Canalys analyst Runar Bjorhovde, “There is an idea that you can target people at every single price point, and you can meet them at every spot.”

The iPhone has remained largely unchanged since 2017 – a rectangular piece of glass with a touchscreen on the front and a few cameras on the back. These days, Apple offers a series of four slates ranging from $829 to $1,599. Samsung and other manufacturers are starting to experiment with new form factors.

Apple is expected to follow suit – potentially launching a thinner iPhone next month that will compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Edge. John Donovan, managing director of Loop Capital, wrote in May, “Apple is clearly betting that its 5.5mm Air model is going to lift its fortunes as testing suggests a strong desire for the new form factor.”

JPMorgan Chase analyst Samik Chatterjee predicted in a report last month that Apple may release a folding phone next year to compete with Samsung’s Z Fold. “Investor focus has already turned to the 2026 fall launches with Apple expected to launch its first foldable iPhone as part of the iPhone 18 lineup in September 2026,” Chatterjee wrote.

Experimenting with new form factors could provide Apple an opportunity to sell devices at higher prices, according to Bjorhovde. Apple’s most expensive phone, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, currently starts at $1,199 for 256GB of storage and can go up to $1,599 for a version with 1TB of storage. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, announced last week, starts at $1,999 for the 256GB version and goes up to $2,419 for the 1TB version.

Chatterjee believes Apple’s folding phone could start at $1,999. Apple declined to comment.

Samsung’s first folding phone was released in 2019 but faced initial challenges. The launch was delayed due to issues discovered by reviewers, including CNBC, regarding the durability of early devices along their folding crease.

However, Samsung claims that this time is different and that foldable phones are finally ready for mainstream adoption, particularly in terms of durability. “There really are no longer trade-offs towards owning a foldable device,” said Drew Blackard, vice president of mobile product management at Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung does not provide sales numbers, but Blackard stated that the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the latest version, had 25% more preorders than any previous Samsung folding phone and that sales are outpacing its predecessor by nearly 50%.

“Samsung with the foldable is able to actually optimize for innovation,” said Bjorhovde. “Try to be ahead, show that something is different, and there’s a certain halo effect from that.”

According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung’s sell-through increased 16% during the June quarter due to demand for high-end devices, including a “slight boost” from the slim S25 Edge.

The rise of artificial intelligence is also signaling new form factors for consumer electronics that could one day replace the iPhone. OpenAI acquired the startup of former Apple design guru Jony Ive for $6.5 billion in May. The AI startup plans to develop the next generation of hardware, and other AI startups have released pins, pendants, and glasses that rely on users’ voice to control the devices.

Samsung devices, as well as other Android phones, gain access to Google’s Gemini, which is considered one of the best AI models alongside OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Gemini offers features that cannot be found with Siri and Apple Intelligence.

Blackard stated that folding phones, with their larger displays, are ideal for AI. Google’s circle-to-search feature, which allows users to simply circle something on the screen they’d like to learn more about, is an example. On a Samsung folding phone, he said, users can still see the original screen with the content they circled, as well as another screen with supplementary information.

Investors have expressed concerns that Apple’s AI delays, including its next-generation Siri which is now scheduled to come out next year, could start hurting sales. However, many analysts believe that Apple’s brand loyalty and lock-in will give it a period of years before iPhone customers start defecting to competitors.

Chatterjee told CNBC that Apple’s strategy with devices is to wait until a technology is ready for the mainstream before embracing it. “Apple has never been about trying to be the first to market,” Chatterjee said. “It’s about being watchful, seeing a technology mature, knowing that there are no big roadblocks to that technology adoption, and then moving ahead.”