Early signs of Samsung's first tri-fold deliver disappointing news for European and American markets

At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a device that could end up becoming the Galaxy G Fold was displayed inside a glass case (see photo above). The prototype at the Samsung booth, still referred to as “G Flex”, seemed significantly more advanced than in previous years, consistent with rumours from South Korea about Samsung’s first tri-fold launching in 2025.

Internally codenamed “Q7M”, the tri-fold Galaxy device has now been listed in the IMEI database, as reported by Erencan Yılmaz on Smartprix. Whilst this is often a promising sign of an imminent launch, this discovery also has a less favourable side. So far, only two model numbers have appeared in the GSM Association’s database: SM-F9680 and SM-F968N.

The “0” at the end of the first model number indicates a Chinese version, whereas the “N” in the latter denotes a variant designed for Korea, Samsung’s domestic market. This suggests that the company may only release its first tri-fold in these two countries, mirroring what happened with the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. In any case, there are currently no signs of model numbers intended for a European or an American release of the device. Even though the situation could change in future, based on our prior experience with the Z Fold Special Edition, a region-exclusive launch is on the cards.