Samsung executives said at the beginning of the year that they hoped to make foldable phones mainstream by the end of 2021. Judging by the sales figures the company announced today (October 11), it appears that Samsung has achieved that goal thanks to the foldable phones it unveiled in August.

It is the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3, both of which have solid reputations as the two best folding phones available for purchase today. Samsung did not release exact sales figures for both models, but stated that sales exceeded expectations, as the latest Fold and Flip are Samsung's best-selling foldable phones.

Specifically, Samsung said that in the month following the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 3/Galaxy Z Flip 3, it has sold more folding handsets than it has sold in the past two years. According to Samsung, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 sold five times as many units as the Galaxy Z Fold 2. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 sold 40 times as many units as the Galaxy Z Flip 5G. [The latter figure is not surprising; with the Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung has lowered the price to $999, which is a considerable drop from the $1,449 price of the original Z Flip 5G, which launched in 2020.

The lower price is one of the biggest changes to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, which has a larger outer display than before and improved durability; both the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 are IPX8 water resistant and have 120 Hz displays. The Z Fold 3 also adds S Pen support and is priced only $200 less than its predecessor. [Many shoppers, including the first Fold and Flip models, did not embrace the early foldable phones because, along with the high price, it was one of their concerns. By emphasizing the new phones' improved durability, the company seems to have convinced more people that the latest Samsung foldable phones are not just a niche product.

To that end, Samsung also released a video of the durability tests that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 undergo to announce the sale. The video includes an environmental chamber test in which the phones are exposed to various weather conditions to see how they perform, a submersion test to see if they can withstand submersion, and in the case of the Galaxy Z fold 3, a pen on the folded portion of the phone's screen to see if the Four different tests are presented: an S Pen test to see if the digitizer works, and a fold test to see if the device can meet Samsung's goal of withstanding 200,000 folds.

Samsung may soon face potential challengers on the foldable front. Google will hold its Pixel Fall Launch event on October 19, and while the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are expected to be the stars of the show, rumor has it that the Pixel Fold may also be there. This would be Google's entry into the foldable phone market.