“More than 20 per cent of our flagship sales are from foldables”

In London for the global launch of the Samsung Flip8 and Fold8, JB Park — President and CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia — sat down with a group of Indian journalists, evo India included, for a candid roundtable on where Samsung's foldable strategy, Galaxy AI and its India business go from here. Edited excerpts.

Foldables are now 20% of your flagship sales. How do you define success in this category?

Our foldables are now in the 8th generation. We've upgraded the durability of our new foldables and have been focussing on consumer experience.

When we first introduced foldables in 2019, they weren't even known to consumers. Even my neighbours were surprised our phone could fold — they asked, "is this real?" Since then we've come a long way. Today, more than 20% of our flagship sales are from foldables, and that number is growing year by year.

Foldables bring a different experience, and that's how we want to approach consumers — based on their needs. What kind of form factor works for them? Is a bar-type phone better, or a foldable? Based on the experience or requirement, that's where we're focussing. I expect the consumer base transitioning to this new form factor will keep expanding.

What's the concrete strategy to grow foldable adoption among creators specifically? Is this positioned as a laptop or desktop replacement, and are there AI features bundled in to aid creators?

Well, the funny thing is we also sell laptops. Should a smartphone replace a laptop or tablet? I don't think so. Smartphone computing power has gotten so high that people assume it can replace a desktop or laptop, but the software available on computers is still far more powerful, and cloud alone won't resolve everything.

If a creative director could shoot a movie, edit it and upload it to social media entirely on a smartphone, that would be great — but can one person really do everything on it? I don't think so. It's different by profession — a software engineer, an architect, a home designer. A quick preset edit can be done lightly on a foldable, but if you're a heavy user, I'd still rely on a desktop.

Is foldable adoption in India still about price, or the lack of a democratised use case? What changes to make it a mainstream flagship choice rather than a statement purchase?

As I mentioned, 20% of our flagship sales are foldables. I think there's still an awareness issue that prevents foldables from becoming the customer's choice among the flagships they could invest in. Democratising foldables depends heavily on the user's requirements — a foldable gives you a different aspect ratio, and that opens up experiences beyond a bar-type phone.

Adoption will get faster as more competition enters this segment — the more brands there are, the greater the awareness for foldables. That's where we're heading.

Our go-to-market strategy has always focussed on user experience. With the Fold8, we have a very new beast for people who are heavily on social media and watching OTT on a bigger screen — it's like folding an 8-inch tablet in half. It's a unique form factor for that generation, and they'll benefit the most from it.

What is Samsung doing to make foldables and Galaxy AI more accessible in tier 2 and tier 3 markets?

We sell almost 65% of our flagship devices in tier 2, tier 3 and rural markets in India. Flagship sales aren't limited to the top 10 metro cities — we've seen the rural market growing in double digits, much faster than metros.

Productivity on a foldable is much better because you have a larger screen, and entertainment and social media consumption on a bigger, unfolded screen is higher too.

Samsung has a very strong distribution footprint, online and offline. We ship to 18,000 postal codes and reach offline customers through more than 80,000 mom-and-pop stores, with about 20,000 promoters across these stores. We continue to invest heavily in tier 2 and tier 3 towns to educate consumers about premium products — very different from what we used to sell in rural markets, like 2G and feature phones that were mostly about voice. Once these customers get in touch with new technology, the transition rate is much faster, and that's where we're focussing for expansion.

Is there a plan for a sub-$1,000 foldable to reach tier 2 and tier 3 India?

We have the Fan Edition (FE) for our S-series, which makes the flagship more affordable for budget-conscious consumers. This is our 8th generation of Z-series, and we haven't come up with an FE for it yet.

We're adaptive based on consumer feedback. In the coming years, as foldables get democratised and more brands enter, if there's a requirement for an FE-type, more affordable foldable, that's a possibility — but it depends on the industry and how consumers respond.

As foldables get more expensive, how do you keep the value equation strong for Indian consumers?

Indian consumers rank much higher in AI adoption than the global average. Young Indian consumers are tech-savvy and like to venture into things not available to others. So the question is how we keep the value proposition strong for them.

We don't want to sell a product that doesn't give value back. If a device gives you productivity, entertainment or creativity — if it helps solve something for you — that's where we think Samsung delivers the best value. But it depends on what the individual uses the product for.

With Chinese OEMs undercutting on price, what's Samsung's real strategy to win the foldable segment — and is AI actually a differentiator?

I think undercutting on price isn't working any more. You're seeing a different kind of industry trend in 2026, with memory prices going up — we're all under pressure on how to absorb rising material costs.

Foldables aren't just about cost, or the crease, or the durability of the screen, or making the OS adaptive. It's not just about unfolding a bigger screen — it's about getting the ratio right for the best usability, with the OS provider's help. That's what we've been working on with our partner in the US for the last eight years — maximising how apps show up on the screen, and differentiating from other brands that have launched foldables. So it's not a price-sensitive thing, it's about how we deliver better value on our Galaxy foldables. Form factor can be copied — slimmer, lighter — but durability is different. How you reduce the crease is different, and how you optimise the OS for a foldable is unique to our user experience.

AI features across smartphones are converging. What will be Samsung's defining competitive advantage over the next three years?

Whether it's the A-series, S-series or Z-series, AI plays an important role. If you use the editor to optimise photos or videos, you'll get a better experience doing it on the Galaxy Fold — I see a lot of creative directors who prefer the Fold over a bar-type phone for editing.

I think Samsung is very good in terms of ecosystem. We're not limited to phones and watches — it extends to home appliances and displays, all linked together. You're at the centre, controlling your home appliances through your smartphone, and using AI to maximise energy efficiency. We're giving seven years of OS upgrades and we're focussed on privacy. All these factors differentiate us from the competition.

Will Galaxy AI move from a value-added feature to a revenue-generating business — subscriptions, partnerships, or even an AI phone without app stores?

We first used Galaxy AI for on-device AI, embedded in the cost of the device. The AI industry has been moving towards cloud-based and partner-based AI, structured around usage — tokens aren't free, and neither is the infrastructure. Data centres require heavy investment and maintenance cost, but we absorb that to give consumers a better experience.

Samsung is also taking a hybrid position — not limited to on-device, but partnering for cloud-based AI too. Some partnerships can be pre-loaded, but you have to pay tokens for cloud-based services. So our integration with one partner is a hybrid style — partially tokenised depending on the level of AI service, but the basic tier stays free.

If you're an engineer or architect who benefits from pro-level AI, you'll pay a monthly subscription on that partner's cloud platform — but that's for professional users, not common consumers. So subscription depends on the level of AI a consumer is using, and that's not part of the Samsung Galaxy AI we provide directly. We're focussed on on-device AI, upgrading not just our latest flagship but N-1, N-2, N-3 generations too, while opening a gateway for professionals who want more.

What's the long-term vision for Galaxy AI monetisation in India — will some features stay free, or eventually sit behind a subscription wall?

Galaxy AI features are free for consumers but a huge cost for Samsung — even on-device features like photo editing need serious computing power. Heavy editing users need more investment in data centres and GPU compute.

We're absorbing that cost today, but going forward, the model will likely be: a free basic tier that around 90% of consumers use, and a pro tier with a fee for those with higher requirements — say, people in editing-heavy industries. Not every consumer needs that pro level, and that's how we'll shape the Galaxy AI experience — and it won't stay limited to flagship devices.

With titanium hinges, new screen tech and silicon-carbon batteries all adding cost — plus the memory crunch — what does after-sales look like, and how do you keep customers happy long-term?

I don't want my consumers to think about the technology — they should just enjoy the output. But behind the scenes, we're constantly trying to improve against competition. Some technologies get cheaper once democratised, but if you're the one taking the innovation risk first, there's always a cost. You invest in technology nobody else dared try, and set the standard that fast followers eventually follow — bringing material costs down over time.

Samsung has always been about pushing something like the TriFold, even when it doesn't make economic sense, to demonstrate we're the technology leader. Will it stay a TriFold forever? I don't think so — there could be a rollable, or a more affordable TriFold down the line.

To ease the upfront burden, we have the Galaxy Forever platform — No Cost EMIs, no-questions-asked upgrade or return, and an Assured Buyback value. That's how we lessen the burden on the consumer.

How is Samsung thinking about wearables for fitness purists who might prefer a screen-less or different form factor?

Health is becoming a very important part of people's lives. Health-tracking technology will keep evolving — eventually tracking things like blood sugar without needing to penetrate the skin. People care about these devices because they've started caring about themselves; if you don't take care of your health, everything else falls away.

We want to bring new wearable form factors — glasses, rings, watches — and continue studying solutions. Healthcare is a massive industry, and we want to be part of preventive health: detecting issues before disease sets in.

Do you see smartphone manufacturing gaining pace in the Indian domestic market, and what's your broader India strategy?

Our R&D engineers in Noida and Bengaluru study the persona of Indian consumers — what kind of AI features actually benefit them, since most industry-standard features are available across all brands. Differentiating on consumer persona is what we focus on.

One example: repetitive bill payments. Can AI automate that — know which date, which email to check, and alert you so you avoid late fines? These are the daily frictions consumers want removed, replaced by a personal-assistant AI. That idea came from our Noida R&D centre, and it's exclusively engineered for Indian consumers, launching in our next Galaxy device.

We're trying to understand our users — whether it's financial nudges, controlling home devices, or alerting family if an elderly relative has a health issue. There are many personas our Noida and Bengaluru teams are studying to build better solutions.

Given the memory crisis and rising phone prices, how do you keep EMIs from getting more expensive for Indian consumers?

It's inevitable that device prices are going up across all brands. But there are two components in an EMI — the interest, and the device cost itself. In markets like the US or Europe, there's an operator subsidy spread across monthly subscription fees. In an open market like India, the EMI cost includes interest, which Samsung bears. So even though the device cost has been going up, we're giving back by absorbing the interest for 24 to 30 months, even on flagship devices. That's how we're trying to give back to customers.

With memory prices rising further, would Samsung rather protect market share by absorbing costs, or protect margins by passing costs on?

Memory prices have gone beyond everyone's expectations, triggered by big tech's heavy investment in AI and data centres — data centre chips are eating into memory production, causing a shortage in both DDR and NAND flash. That surge will likely continue for a year or two.

Will Samsung absorb the cost? Yes — over the past eight months we've absorbed more of it than our competition has. Our price increases have been relatively smaller. Not because we want to protect market share, but because we believe a smartphone isn't something you can reprice like gasoline — it's technology you'll own for the next three years, and the loss we're taking on it in 2026 is humongous.

We'll continue to offer EMIs and absorb the interest to ease the burden, even as device costs rise like everyone else's. Some competitors may discontinue products that turn unprofitable — that's not Samsung's philosophy. We don't walk away from a product just because of negative profit; we're building a platform and ecosystem for every household to benefit from. If we can innovate enough that people feel their purchase delivered real value over 36 months, that's the goal.

Healthy competition is good for innovation — if you're alone on an island, you don't know if you're smart or dumb. You need people to challenge you. That's why we keep collaborating with big tech and our long-standing partners.

Does Samsung's willingness to absorb costs right now come from support within its own semiconductor division? And how does Apple's foldable launch change things?

Our Device Experience (DX) and Device Solutions (DS) divisions operate independently — there's no special benefit flowing to DX from our own chip business. DS is a different creature, and the wall between the two divisions is only getting higher. We compete for volume and pricing just like anyone else; whoever gives DS the best deal is who they go with. That's the DNA of Samsung — we compete internally as much as externally, and that's how we stay ahead.

Samsung's India revenue has grown at roughly 10% CAGR over four years. Is profitability under pressure in non-smartphone categories like appliances and TVs, and is R&D shifting from software to hardware engineering in India?

Consumer electronics isn't very profitable for us right now — similar to what happened in mobile ten years ago, Chinese brands have surged into this space too, bringing down profitability across the board. Can we be profitable with 70 AC brands in the market? Only once it consolidates to three or four strong players. The Chinese are tough on cost and very competitive, but we're still working to hold our top position in both display and home appliances.

On hardware versus software R&D — most hardware design and architecture still comes from Korea. India's contribution is on software and AI, plus a design centre that studies Indian consumer personas and feeds that back to Korea, along with a product planning team dedicated to making designs exclusive to the Indian market.

Growing our R&D centre matters less in headcount and more in IP — new technology that originates from India. Samsung is number one globally in electronics IP, and we believe Indian engineers have the capability to build more of it. We want to make sure they're working on creative, high-value problems rather than routine technical work, so our India R&D centres can contribute IP globally, not just execution. India has some of the best engineering talent in the world, and we're fortunate to have three R&D centres here.