After confirming record-breaking demand in South Korea, Samsung has now revealed that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup is also exceeding expectations across Europe ahead of its official retail debut.

Samsung says pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series and Galaxy Z Flip 8 have increased by 20% compared to last year’s foldable generation in Europe.

The figures come, via SamMobile, just days before the devices reach customers on August 7, showing that interest in Samsung’s latest foldables remains stronger than ever.

Samsung confirmed that the standard Fold model accounts for nearly 40 percent of all foldable pre-orders in the region, making it the clear favorite among European buyers.

Menno Van Den Berg, President of the European Telecom Office at Samsung MX, said, “It is amazing to see the reaction to our new Galaxy Z series across Europe. Surpassing our preorder targets for the previous-generation foldable range demonstrates strong and growing consumer demand for foldable innovation. In particular, the reimagined Galaxy Z Fold 8 has captured our customers’ imagination ahead of its launch on August 7.”

This follows a similar trend seen in South Korea, where Samsung recently announced that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series achieved the highest pre-order numbers in the history of its foldable business; read more:

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 1.44 million pre-orders break records of Galaxy S26, Note 10, and all others

Buyers of premium phone models continue to entrust Apple and Samsung. Market research agency Counterpoint Research has come up with a fresh report on the high-end smartphone market in the first half of the year.

According to Counterpoint Research, the premium segment contributed 29 percent of the overall market volume in H1 2026, up from 25 percent in 2025.

Highlights from the research report:

• Apple registered 9 percent YoY growth in H1 2026, driven by the strong performance of the iPhone 17 series.
• Samsung secured 3 percent YoY growth for the period and captured 19 percent of the segment despite the later launch of the Galaxy S26 series.
• OPPO recorded the highest growth in the segment at 69 percent.
• Vivo registered 20 percent YoY growth for the period.

Premium phone market remains Apple and Samsung story

Apple continues to lead the premium smartphone market with a lion’s share, while Samsung retained its share in H1 2026.

“Rising memory and component costs are reshaping smartphone pricing and creating opportunities for OEMs to accelerate premiumization,” said Senior Analyst Harshit Rastogi.

In particular, Apple seized a 65 percent share in the premium smartphone market in the first half of the year. Samsung, at the same time, retained a 19 percent market share, the same as in the same period in the previous year.

Together, Apple and Samsung hold 84 percent market share, up from 82 percent in H1 2025. The remaining 16 percent market share went to Chinese phone makers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo.

Samsung Mobile Business posted an earnings loss for the first time, which reportedly triggered an internal meeting to discuss pricing changes on future phones, including the Galaxy S27 series.

Galaxy S27 series and future foldable phones could come with increased price tags. The company is also exploring other ways to maintain profitability of its smartphone business by promoting high-end and top-tier memory versions.

Samsung’s Mobile eXperience division, the unit responsible for Galaxy phones, tablets, and wearables, swung to an operating loss in Q2 2026 despite revenue climbing compared to a year ago.

Korean media Bloter reports that Samsung is now looking at its entire pricing playbook from the ground up, not just sticker prices but discounts, carrier promotions, and regional pricing too.

Price increase news is no longer unexpected, as consumers have already welcomed the Galaxy S26 series with increased pricing, followed by the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

• Samsung increases Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra prices in the US: Here’s what changed

Apple’s most recent quarter showed strong growth in both revenue and profit, helped heavily by its Services business, which runs at a much better margin than hardware sales.

With this pricing overhaul underway, the Galaxy S27 series could be an early test case. Samsung is said to be looking at pushing customers toward higher-end configurations and Ultra models, alongside reducing promotional spending.

Whether that comes through as a direct price hike on the S27 or a more indirect approach through fewer discounts remains to be seen.

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Samsung witnessed an unprecedented demand for its new Galaxy Z Fold 8 series foldable phones, leading the company to extend the activation period in South Korea.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup is off to a demand run the company clearly wasn’t fully prepared for, and now it’s adjusting its rollout plans in South Korea to keep up.

Pre-order activation window pushed to month-end

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra 1TB and the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 in 512GB and 1TB variants were originally set to have their activation period run from August 4 to August 7.

Samsung has now stretched that window all the way to August 31, giving buyers nearly the entire month to activate their devices instead of a tight four-day gap.

Despite the activation delay, Samsung isn’t touching the general launch date, which stays fixed at August 7. Buyers don’t need to worry about losing their pre-order perks either.

Samsung confirmed that anyone who activates their device by August 31 will still receive the standard pre-order incentives, including the free storage upgrade that doubles the memory capacity at no additional cost.

Korean pre-orders surpass 1.44 million in 7 days

The South Korean tech giant officially confirmed that pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Fold 8, and Z Flip 8 hit 1.44 million units across the seven-day pre-sale window that ran from July 28 to August 3 in its home market.

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 1.44 million pre-orders break records of Galaxy S26, Note 10, and all others

Samsung has kicked off early deliveries of its Galaxy Z8 series in India, handing over pre-booked units of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Flip 8 to eager customers well ahead of schedule.

Shipping devices ahead of the official date isn’t just a logistics flex. It signals Samsung’s confidence in its own supply chain and its eagerness to reward early adopters who committed to the purchase sight unseen.

With aggressive upgrade offers, bank cashback deals, and no-cost EMI options sweetening the pot further, it’s clear Samsung wants to keep this early momentum rolling well into the festive season.

The Galaxy Z8 lineup pulled in over 271,000 pre-orders within just 72 hours of its July 22 launch in India. For context, the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Galaxy Z Flip8 needed a full 15 days to hit similar numbers last year.

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• Galaxy Z Fold 8 1.44 million pre-orders break records of Galaxy S26, Note 10, and all others