Samsung hints at slimmer Galaxy Fold launch in 12-second teaser video

Samsung Electronics teased the launch of a new Galaxy product through an 11-second video on Thursday.

The letter that appears in Samsung Electronics' teaser for the new Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition reads "You're Invited." [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Samsung Electronics teased the launch of a new Galaxy product through a 12-second video on Thursday.

The teaser features a white envelope being slid under a door, with the letter inside reading “You're Invited.”

Samsung is set to release a special edition of its Galaxy Fold series, which is speculated to be slimmer than the original.

If those rumors are true, this would be the first time Samsung Electronics is launching a slim version of its foldables.

Korean reports and industry insiders have indicated that the special edition, named Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, will have a thickness of 10.6 millimeters (0.4 inches) when folded and 4.9 millimeters when unfolded. This makes it 1.5 millimeters thinner when folded and 0.7 millimeters slimmer when unfolded compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 released earlier this year.

The slimmer version is expected to help Samsung boost its market share in the foldable smartphone market, which has seen increased competition from Chinese players in recent years.

China's Honor launched the Honor Magic V3 in July that boasts to be the thinnest foldable smartphone in the world with 9.2 millimeters thickness when folded and 4.4 millimeters when opened.

Huawei, in September, unveiled the trailblazing, triple-folding Mate XT, although its durability has come under fire.

Samsung, which pioneered the foldable smartphone market by launching the first foldable in 2019, held 80 percent of the segment in 2022. Its share dropped to 50.4 percent as of early June, however, with Huawei, Motorola and Honor gaining ground, according to TrendForce data.

The specs and photos of the new Galaxy product will be unveiled on Oct. 21 on Samsung's website while the launch will take place on the 25th, Samsung Electronics said.

The price of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition hasn't been disclosed, but media speculate it to be as high as 3 million won, hovering above the price of the original version, which launched with a price tag of 2.2 million won for the smallest storage option of 256 GB.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]