Roh Tae-Moon, head of the DX Division (president) at Samsung Electronics, said at a press briefing held right after the "Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026" event in London on the 22nd (local time), "Foldables have entered a mature phase both technologically and in the market," adding, "The entry of more corporations into the market means foldables have already become mainstream."
Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable smartphone along with the iPhone 18 series in September.
Roh said, "The technological prowess and understanding of customers we have accumulated over seven years since first introducing foldables is a competitive edge that cannot be caught up with overnight," stressing, "The fiercer the competition, the more we will take the lead by setting new standards and leading the global foldable market." He added, "The Galaxy Z series unveiled today is a starting point that reset the standard for foldables," and "We have moved past the period of introducing a new form factor; now foldables have become part of everyday life, and customers' expectations are becoming more diverse."
Roh predicted that the next competitive edge for foldables will be created in artificial intelligence (AI) beyond hardware. He said, "AI is now becoming infrastructure that everyone naturally expects, and to be used seamlessly in everyday life, it must be easy and trustworthy," adding, "We will bring Galaxy AI to 800 million people within this year." He continued, "No company accompanies everyday life across such a wide range of devices like Samsung," and said, "On a foundation that can understand people most deeply, we will deliver differentiated AI experiences."
Roh emphasized that the more we enter the AI era, the more important privacy and transparency become. Roh said, "We have a principle of keeping the most sensitive personal data on the device and enabling users to directly check and judge what AI does and how," adding, "Providing a trustworthy AI experience is more important than anything."
Samsung Electronics has identified health as the area where AI can deliver the greatest value and plans to accelerate the expansion of AI health experiences. The new Galaxy Watch analyzes sleep, recovery, and activity data to help users understand their health status more intuitively, and Samsung Health has expanded its management scope beyond sleep, exercise, diet, and mental health to include the "biomarkers" category. Based on various biometric data such as heart rate, respiration rate, and skin temperature during sleep, it sets individual health baselines and helps detect signs of abnormalities more quickly.
Roh added, "Shifting the center of health management from treatment to prevention is the direction Samsung Health pursues," and "By combining AI with digital health technology, we will deliver a more personalized health experience."