Samsung goes full Taylor Swift with wide Galaxy Z Fold 8 tease by wiping its Instagram — 'bold stroke, new shape'

Samsung has something big to launch, and is going about it the "new Taylor Swift album" way — wiping its Instagram feed and rolling out some cryptic teasers to build hype around its rumored Unpacked event next month

What could the company be teasing? Well, given the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 phones have been leaked a lot (including a new wide model), and the shape being cut out of everything in these teasers, I think it’s kind of clear what the company may be hinting at here.

What is Samsung teasing?

So this is a very Taylor Swift-esque IG feed wipe to tease something big, and if you’ve been following the Samsung rumors and leaks ahead of Galaxy Unpacked (rumored to be happening late July), then chances are you’ve already gotten the hint here.

The bit that jumped out at me is that Samsung’s release talks about “recurring shapes and patterns.” Every single one is a shorter, stubbier cutout of the original shape — chopping off the top of a photobooth strip or a smaller rectangle out of a pizza (kind of cursed on that last one).

…you get it yet? Well, this looks very similar to the passport-sized Galaxy Fold 8 that’s been leaked everywhere at the moment. It's was previously called Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide in other leaks. Obviously, I can’t say for sure, but also…it’s a little obvious to me. Now what these teaser posts may hint at in terms of features, that’s a different question.

Here’s my skeptical take (with 10 years of PR/marketing experience under my belt)

So, right off the rip, I’ll just be real with you — PR and marketing can be a fun but tough job to do, and I salute anyone who does it. I’ve lived in this world for 10 years, so let me take a crack at reading between the lines.

Sometimes when I was faced with a campaign to promote something that was much more about form over function, the game plan was similar to this: don't talk about the features, tell a story. That is why a campaign like this makes me a little nervous — a new shape alone just won’t cut it.

This is something I found out when testing the passport-style Huawei Pura X Max in China. Now, I’m sure Samsung has paid attention to the software details.

But there are fundamental UI challenges like icon and keyboard placement when folded out flat. You can't reach the center with your thumbs on the Huawei, and the QWERTY takes up 60% of the screen, which isn’t good for productivity at all.

And I can only hope there are new features in this foldable to truly make it stand out as an upgrade — not just new AI features to try and make a big price look good. I guess I’m just a little worried that this could be purely a form-over-function play here.

That being said, I hope I'm wrong! I'm convinced foldables are the legitimate next form factor for smartphones beyond the slabs we have now.

Outlook

Obviously, this is all personal takes right now. Maybe these are all concerns that Samsung will address and I’ll be left eating my hat.

Maybe in the range of foldables announced, you’ll be able to find your right balance between productivity and entertainment. I’ll reserve any proper judgement until we find out more, and I’ve actually tried these upcoming foldable phones for myself.

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