Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold8, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip8 at its Unpacked event in London, giving each device a more defined place within the foldable lineup.
In an interaction with Indian journalists on the sidelines of the launch, JB Park, President and CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia, spoke about how Samsung plans to keep the value equation strong as foldables become more premium. Responding to a question from MySmartPrice, Park pointed to AI adoption among young Indian consumers, locally developed features and the wider Galaxy ecosystem as the areas that could help Samsung justify the premium beyond the folding form factor itself.
Value Has to Come From What the Foldable Enables
Park said Indian consumers rank higher than the global average when it comes to AI adoption, with younger buyers especially willing to try technology that is not yet widely available.
For Samsung, however, the novelty of the device is not enough. Park said the company does not want to offer a product unless it gives users something meaningful in return, whether through productivity, entertainment or creativity.
"We don't want to provide a product that is not giving any value back to consumers," Park said.
The answer also explains some of the thinking behind Samsung's new foldable lineup. The Galaxy Z Fold8 introduces a shorter and wider form factor built around video, reading, gaming and social-media use. The Fold8 Ultra retains the larger productivity and content-creation pitch, while the Flip8 continues as the compact option focused on quick interactions and expression.
Samsung is effectively asking buyers to look beyond the folding mechanism and consider what each format improves. A larger screen can make multitasking and editing easier, but it also has to remain useful for everyday activities such as reading, streaming and browsing.
The Fold8 is the clearest example of this shift. Instead of making another large productivity-oriented Fold, Samsung has created a device for users who want a more immersive screen without carrying something that feels like a small tablet all the time.
AI Is Central to Samsung's Value Pitch
Park's reference to AI is important because most premium smartphones now offer similar hardware and increasingly similar feature sets. Cameras, processors and displays still matter, but AI is becoming one of the areas where brands are trying to build a longer-term reason to stay within their ecosystem.
During the interaction, Park said AI plays an important role across Samsung's A, S and Z series. Features such as photo and video editing can be used on a conventional phone, but the larger display of a Fold gives users more space to view the content, make changes and compare the result. He added that some creative professionals already prefer the Fold for editing work.
Samsung is also looking beyond individual AI features. Park pointed to an ecosystem that connects smartphones and watches with televisions, displays and home appliances. Seven years of software support and Samsung's privacy framework are being positioned as part of the value of buying a premium Galaxy device.
The distinction will come down to execution. Image editing, summaries and transcription are no longer rare features. Samsung needs Galaxy AI to work more naturally across apps and devices, rather than remain a collection of tools that users try briefly after setting up the phone.
Foldables give the company more space to build those workflows. Users can keep content and an AI assistant open together, work across multiple apps and view more information without moving repeatedly between screens. The hardware provides the canvas, but the software has to make the larger display worth opening.
Indian Teams Are Building for Local Use Cases
Samsung is also using its research and development centres in Noida and Bengaluru to develop features around Indian consumer behaviour.
Pay Now, which is being introduced through Now Brief on the new foldables, was developed by Indian engineers. It can identify upcoming bill payments, send reminders and help users complete the payment through Samsung Wallet.
The feature is a better example of Samsung's AI direction than another generic editing tool. It addresses a routine task that is particularly relevant in India and uses AI to remove a few steps rather than simply generate content.
Local development also strengthens Samsung's value argument in the country. Indian buyers are not only receiving the same global feature set; some experiences are being shaped around local payment habits and day-to-day use.
Rising Costs Make the Experience More Important
The value conversation is becoming more difficult as component costs rise. Park said increasing investment in AI infrastructure and data centres is putting pressure on memory supply, including DRAM and NAND flash. He expects memory prices to remain elevated for another year or two.
Samsung says it has absorbed part of the increase over the past several months, although Park acknowledged that device costs across the industry will continue to move upwards.
Higher costs place more pressure on brands to show what users receive over the life of a premium phone. Longer software support, locally relevant AI features and tighter ecosystem integration become more important when specifications alone are no longer enough to justify an upgrade.
Samsung helped establish the modern foldable category, and Park said foldables now contribute more than 20 per cent of the company's flagship sales. The next phase will depend less on the surprise of seeing a screen fold and more on whether the experience remains useful after that surprise fades.
The Fold8 gives Samsung a new form factor to work with. Galaxy AI, local software development and the wider ecosystem will now have to show what makes it worth choosing.
