Samsung trifold phone may make its debut at an unusual event, and it’s soon

Get set to see one of the most exciting phones of the year, in all its real metal and glass glory, later this month. It’s being indicated Samsung will show off its trifold smartphone at an economic summit taking place in South Korea from October 31, and if it does, it’ll mark the first time the rumored phone will be seen by the public.

According to anonymous sources speaking to both The Korea Herald and ETNews, the next-generation folding phone will be part of Samsung’s exhibition at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) event, but it doesn’t seem like Samsung will use it as a full, official unveiling of the phone.

This wouldn’t be much of a surprise, as the APEC 2025 summit is a business event based around promoting economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, and not a tech show like CES or MWC. However, it’s still an unexpected location for Samsung to show one of the world’s first trifold smartphones.

The reports go on to say the phone — referred to as both the Galaxy Trifold and the G Flex — will subsequently see a full, public reveal “as early as November.” Previous rumors have suggested an October launch date for the phone, but this may have been pushed back.

Low production numbers will increase rarity

Once revealed, Samsung is apparently not going to produce many Galaxy Trifold phones during its initial production run, with around 50,000 models expected according to the anonymous source.

To put this into context, the original Galaxy Fold’s first production run was rumored to be as low as 30,000 and as high as 100,000 units. More recently, Samsung increased the number of Galaxy Z Fold 7 units to 260,000 per month. The low number shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it may cost as much as $3,000 when it’s released, and will also make the phone quite rare for a while.

The APEC 2025 event takes place between October 31 and November 1 in South Korea. While it’s not a tech event, it is the first time an APEC event has been held in South Korea since 2005, so it will be keen to show off the country’s leadership in innovation, and what better way to do it than with a trifold phone.

The Galaxy Trifold will join the Huawei Mate XT trifold phone, and concepts like the Tecno Phantom Ultimate G Fold, as one of the few examples of this exciting format.