Apple’s first foldable iPhone has turned a long-running smartphone rivalry into a direct contest over a category Samsung helped establish. After Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo on September 9, Samsung’s Canadian account drew attention with a teasing response to a Rosé post featuring an iPhone 18 Pro. The exchange was especially pointed because BLACKPINK had previously promoted Samsung’s Galaxy A series, including a regional special edition.
Behind the social-media jab is a more consequential competitive shift. Samsung enters this phase with roughly eight years of foldable-phone experience, while Apple is arriving with its first model. That changes the question for Samsung from whether foldables can become a mainstream premium format to how much its accumulated hardware and software experience can matter once Apple brings its own users and ecosystem into the segment.
The next contest will be less about the joke and more about execution. Samsung has an incumbency advantage in foldables, but Apple’s entry can expand attention to the form factor and raise expectations around durability, software behavior and everyday usability. For Korean electronics companies, the launch is therefore both a marketing fight and a test of whether years of early investment translate into a durable commercial edge.