September 9, 2026
Suwon · Cupertino

Samsung’s
Worst Day

Ed Tsue · An essay · 4 min read
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September 9, 2026 was Samsung’s worst day since their phones started exploding on airplanes.

That’s when Apple introduced the iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone. And it broke the internet.

Somewhere in Suwon (Samsung’s HQ), a team is being screamed at. After all, Samsung launched its first foldable in 2019 (!). The Fold 8 is its 8th generation foldable, a great phone by any measure that also apes the Duo’s passport shape in anticipation of an inevitable comparison.

Samsung is frustrated, jealous, and embarrassed.

Incredulous to the fact that people are excited about a category of phone they invented. (Fun fact: Samsung is also the manufacturer of the Duo’s screens.) Indignant to the notion that nobody bought Samsung’s foldables for the last… like forever, as it remained a party trick, infrequently seen in the wild. And now people are lining up to spend $2,000 on the Duo?! Such a grand injustice.

All they can do is make frenemy ads about the situation. #welcomenotwelcome

I’ve worked on smartphone advertising for the past decade. I helped launch multiple Galaxy flagship phones. The trauma was real.

But instead of feeling haughty and vindicated, I’ll spend the energy unsolicitedly answering three questions being asked in Suwon of those poor Samsung employees being yelled at.

Detail of the painting: the ploughman, head bowed over his work, sheep grazing behind him.
Section I
The Ploughman
keeps working, never looks up

Why do people suddenly care about foldables when we’ve been talking about ours for 9 years?

(I promise not to use the words ‘branding,’ ‘cultural relevance,’ or ‘cool factor’ in this answer. While all factors, the answer is simpler yet more nuanced.)

By many, many measures, Samsung phones are technically superior to iPhones, including with this foldable. Its camera has more megapixels (50MP vs 48MP). It charges faster. It shoots in 8K. It’s thinner, lighter, and has a physical SIM. And it’s cheaper.

Samsung’s main flaw when it comes to its advertising is its unflinching belief that product superiority wins over consumers.

The reality is real people really don’t have time to understand what +2MP means as long as the pictures look nice. They don’t have time to learn OneUI. They want to FaceTime their kids. They just don’t care that much about the product’s comparative superiority as long as the iPhone itself is good.

You can see the difference: Samsung’s ads tell people what it is. Apple’s ads tell people what it’s like.

Here’s a good example of headphones. Note Samsung’s impulse to call out product features vs. Apple’s restraint. (I know I’m cherry-picking, but you see the difference in default mode.)

what it is Samsung · Galaxy Buds4 Pro
what it’s like Apple · AirPods Pro

Samsung’s ads litigate. And people don’t like to be litigated to. They prefer good vibes.

Detail of the painting: the shepherd leaning on his staff, gazing up and away from the sea.
Section II
The Shepherd
gazing the wrong way

Should we increase our media spend?

No. Please no.

Whenever Samsung sees a big iPhone billboard, their first instinct is to buy a bigger billboard.

They don’t understand that category position matters. A challenger brand (a title Samsung both relishes and hates) cannot win by playing the leader’s game. But when you don’t know what else to do, that’s all you do.

I’ve also believed that the most effective iPhone advertising is not advertising at all. It’s ambiance.

A SportsCenter guest on ESPN, wearing AirPods.
7:00 a.m.
It’s watching SportsCenter every morning and seeing their reporters wear AirPods.
Four characters from a television drama crowded around a laptop.
Act two
It’s seeing your favorite character iMessage during a tense scene.
A mirror selfie taken with an iPhone, ring of bulbs around the frame.
Mirror
It’s seeing a Kardashian hold up a mirror selfie with an iPhone.
Samsung simply is not ambient in real life.

If it were up to me, they should turn off all their traditional advertising and focus on nothing else but showing up organically (even if we all know it’s never organic).

You can buy a bigger billboard. You can’t buy your way into someone’s life.

Detail of the painting: the fisherman crouched at the water's edge, intent on his line.
Section III
The Fisherman
closest to the drowning man, still doesn’t see him

Why can’t we stop thinking about Apple?

Do you know what Samsung talks about most internally? iPhone.
Do you know what Apple talks about most internally? Apple.

Also, do you notice the first thing that happens when you say to a friend, “Oh, you got a Samsung…” is they launch into a defense on technical grounds? As if to justify (to themselves, mainly) their choice. To which you (as an iPhone user) shrug and say, “OK, cool.”

That shrug is the whole game. Apple doesn’t have to win the argument because Apple isn’t having one. Samsung is arguing with a competitor that isn’t arguing back. And there is nothing that reveals insecurity faster than fighting someone who won’t fight you.

Stop trying to beat Apple. Apple isn’t thinking about you. That’s exactly why they’re winning.

I say all this with love. I spent a decade in those rooms. I want Samsung to do well.

Which is what makes it so hard to watch.

Samsung makes the better phone. Almost always has, and does again with its Fold. It just never believed it enough to advertise it the right way.

Exploding batteries can be recalled. An inferiority complex cannot.

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