Samsung to Cut 2025 Foldable Production After Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 Underperform

Highlights

• Samsung plans to cut 2025 foldable production after the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 underperformed.
• It will reportedly produce just 5 million units of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 combined.
• Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 led pre-orders lower than expected.
• Samsung is increasing its production efforts for the Galaxy S25 series.

Samsung is reportedly cutting down its plans for 2025 foldable devices after the performance of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 didn’t meet expectations. A report from Korea suggests the company is rethinking its approach as sales for its latest foldables failed to meet expectations.

Samsung has been slowly increasing production with every new launch since the first Samsung foldable phone came out.

While this was a perfect strategy for some time, competition from other brands has now made it difficult for the brand to sell as many units as it hoped. The sale numbers of Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 appear to have compelled the company to finally take the call.

A report from ETNews via @Jukanlosreve on X (formerly Twitter) claims Samsung plans to produce just 5 million units of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 combined, 3 million for the Flip and 2 million for the Fold. That’s a sharp drop from the 8.2 million units produced for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6.

Samsung has set conservative production targets for the Galaxy Z7 series.

The Z Flip 7 is reportedly targeted at 3 million units, while the Z Fold 7 is set at 2 million units. This marks a significant decrease from the 8.2 million unit target for the previous Galaxy Z6 series.…

— Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve) December 22, 2024

Samsung had initially aimed for 10% growth with its latest foldable generation, but the numbers didn’t come close. Pre-orders were lower than expected and overall sales underperformed. While the report doesn’t provide exact figures, it’s clear this shortfall is why Samsung has decided to change the strategy.

As highlighted in earlier reports, Samsung depends heavily on existing foldable users upgrading to newer models. The low pre-order numbers for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 likely set the stage for a challenging year.

Samsung isn’t the only brand changing its production plans for foldable phones. According to analyst Ross Young, several Chinese foldable manufacturers are also cutting down their production forecasts for 2025.

Chinese brands are also down in 2025. This is why we forecasted 2025 foldable panel shipments to be down Y/Y a few weeks ago…

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) December 23, 2024

The latest reports also suggest that Samsung is exploring new form factors for foldable devices, which means we might get to see something completely new in the foldable category.

While Samsung trims its foldable production, it’s ramping up efforts for the Galaxy S series. The company plans a production run of 37.4 million units for the Galaxy S25 series, an increase of around 7% compared to the Galaxy S24 series. Additionally, the upcoming Galaxy S25 Slim is expected to add another 3 million units to that total.

Jukanlosreve writes, “In contrast, the Galaxy S25 series is expected to see a 7% increase in shipments compared to its predecessor. The target shipment volume for the Galaxy S25 series, scheduled for release in the first half of next year, is set at 37.4 million units. Including the new addition to the lineup, the Galaxy S25 Slim (3 million units), the total target shipment volume reaches 40.4 million units.”

FAQs

Q1. Why is Samsung reducing its foldable production for 2025?

Answer. Samsung is reducing its foldable production for 2025 due to the disappointing performance of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 with sales failing to meet expectations.

Q2. How many units of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 does Samsung plan to produce?

Answer. Samsung plans to produce 5 million units of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 combined—3 million for the Flip and 2 million for the Fold.

Q3. What is Samsung’s plan for the Galaxy S25 series production?

Answer. Samsung plans a production run of 37.4 million units for the Galaxy S25 series, with an additional 3 million units for the Galaxy S25 Slim.

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