I’ve been watching Samsung’s every move lately, and I have to tell you, their latest strategy shift is a bit of a shocker. While everyone else is racing to make phones as thin as a credit card or folding them into three parts, Samsung is doing something we rarely see in tech: they are hitting the brakes. It turns out the “thinner is better” trend didn’t exactly set the world on fire for them.
After the Galaxy S25 Edge failed to gain traction—moving only about 300,000 units compared to the millions of Ultras sold—Samsung is officially stepping back from the “iPhone Air” arms race. They aren’t just chasing Apple anymore; they’re waiting to see what you actually want to buy.
The Reality of Slim and Foldable Tech
I noticed a very candid tone from Samsung’s Mobile COO, Won-Joon Choi, who basically admitted that just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should. Even though Samsung pioneered the Galaxy Z TriFold, they aren’t committing to a successor just yet. It feels like the company is prioritizing usability over “cool factor” gadgets that might break or feel clunky in your pocket.
This matters because it signals a shift toward reliability. Instead of a tri-fold that might be too thick or a “Slim” model that sacrifices battery life, Samsung is looking for “market viability.” In short, they want to make sure that if you’re spending over $1,000 on a phone, it actually solves a problem rather than just being a conversation starter.
Privacy Screens and the Future of the S-Pen
The most interesting part of this update is the tech that did make the cut. You might have seen the Privacy Display on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra—it’s that clever tech that blocks side-angle viewing so people can’t snoop on your texts. Interestingly, Choi admitted this was supposed to launch a year ago on the S25 Ultra, but they delayed it to get the quality right. I personally appreciate this “slow and steady” approach; it’s better to have a feature that works perfectly than one that’s rushed to meet a deadline.
On top of that, if you’re a fan of the S-Pen, don’t worry. Samsung is working on a “new structure of display” to make the stylus experience even better without the usual hardware “penalties” like added thickness or screen interference.
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Next-Gen S-Pen: A new internal structure is being developed to reduce hardware trade-offs.
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Privacy Display: Built-in tech that limits viewing angles to the user only.
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Production Gap: S25 Ultra (3.4M units) vs. S25 Edge (300k units).
It’s clear that Samsung is playing the long game here, focusing on refined features like the S-Pen and privacy rather than just chasing the thinnest frame. I’ll keep you updated as more details come out about that next-gen stylus tech!
