Samsung Electronics to hold Galaxy Unpacked event in Seoul in July

Visitors eagerly experience the Galaxy23 series at Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco in Feb, 2023. [Photo provided by Samsung Electronics]

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will hold a launch event for its flagship Galaxy foldable phones for the first time in Korea in July.

“The Galaxy Unpacked event that will present the latest foldable phones will be held at COEX in Seoul in late July,” said an unnamed official from Samsung Electronics.

The Galaxy Unpacked event started in March 2010 in Las Vegas, U.S., with the first Galaxy S model. The event was held in major cities such as New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, and Barcelona, but not in Seoul.

The coastal city of Busan was also a candidate for the event but the company chose Seoul in the end.

Samsung Electronics will unveil the fifth-generation Galaxy foldable phones, Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.

“Seoul is a city that has grown to become a hub of global innovation and cultural prosperity in just half of a century and sought progress in becoming the center of advanced technology,” the Samsung official said. “Samsung Electronics will introduce its ultra-gap technology and future roadmap in Seoul.”

The upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event is likely to be held on July 26 given that the previous events were held on Wednesday. The event has been moved forward by about two weeks.

Industry insiders noted that Samsung Electronics’ decision to hold the event in Seoul shows its confidence that Seoul is the center of the world’s foldable phone ecosystem.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, sales of foldable smartphones accounted for 13.6 percent of the entire smartphone sales last year, which is higher than in major markets.