Korean publication The Chosun is reporting that sales of the Galaxy Z Fold8 increased by around 10% on a week-to-week basis just after Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo. Some people were holding off to see what Apple had cooked up before committing to a Z Fold8 or waiting for a Duo.
Indeed, the Duo won’t come out until late October, while the wide Galaxy foldable is available now – this is quoted as one of the reasons for people picking the Samsung phone. However, this isn’t nearly the whole story.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
In Korea, Samsung is selling its phones more cheaply than in the US and Europe. To put it in concrete numbers, in the US, the Z Fold8 is $1,900 and the iPhone Duo is $2,000 (+5%). This is for 256GB units in both cases. In Europe, the gap is bigger at €2,000 and €2,300, respectively (+15%).
But this is nothing compared to the gap in Korea – the base Z Fold8 sells for KRW 2.28 million, compared to iPhone Duo’s KRW 3.29 million. This is a difference of a whopping 44%! No wonder Koreans aren’t impressed with Apple’s first foldable all that much. Also, here’s a “fun” bit of trivia – the 2TB variant of the iPhone Duo is the first smartphone to go over the KRW 5 million mark (it costs KRW 5.09 million).
Apple iPhone Duo
Anyway, besides the wait times and the price, the iPhone Duo’s bulk is another problem – it is 11.3mm thick and weighs 254g, compared to 9.7mm and 201g for the Galaxy Z Fold8. We have a more detailed breakdown of the differences between Samsung’s and Apple’s wide foldables. Also, despite having some cool features, the iPhone Duo doesn’t solve foldables’ biggest problems (among which is the price, but that is not the only issue).