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On Nov. 20 (local time), two days before Samsung Electronics' foldable phone unveiling event "Galaxy Unpacked 2026," a large outdoor advertisement heralding the event appeared on the main electronic billboard at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, the heart of London and near the event venue.
Alongside an Adidas ad featuring Lamine Yamal, the top star of this year's World Cup, "Galaxy Artificial Intelligence (AI)" images adorned the billboard promoting the launch of Samsung Electronics' (005930) new form-factor product, catching the eyes of nearby tourists and passersby. Indeed, many tourists and pedestrians stopped in front of the billboard to look up at it or raise their smartphone cameras to take photos.
Piccadilly Circus is considered the busiest street even in London, one of the world's largest cities. Its commercial district is so developed that it is likened to "London's Gangnam," and billboard advertising rates there are among the highest. Through the billboard ad, Samsung Electronics has made this location the base of its Galaxy Unpacked marketing and begun full-scale event preparations.
The nearby Old Billingsgate building, the venue for the Galaxy Unpacked event, drew attention early on with flags announcing the event decorating its exterior. Images bearing the Samsung Electronics and Galaxy logos also filled billboards along the route from London's Heathrow Airport into the city.
London is the home of Google DeepMind and a place where numerous AI companies are based. Universities ranked among the world's top in AI competitiveness, such as Imperial College London (ICL) and the nearby University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, are also located there. On this foundation, the U.K. is considered one of the AI Big Three (G3) nations, after the U.S. and China. After Paris, France in 2024 and New York, U.S. last year, Samsung Electronics has chosen this location as the site of Galaxy Unpacked this year and plans to showcase AI phone innovation to the global industry.
Galaxy Unpacked will be held on Nov. 22 (local time) at Old Billingsgate in London. At this event, in addition to the "Galaxy Z Flip8" and "Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra" that succeed existing foldable phone products, Samsung will unveil the series' first wide-format product, the "Galaxy Z Fold8."
The Z Fold8's biggest feature is a design that increases the horizontal screen ratio compared to the existing Z Fold7. When folded, the cover display measures 5.5 inches with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and when unfolded, the main display measures 7.6 inches with a 4:3 ratio. When folded, it offers the usability of a typical bar-type smartphone, and when unfolded, that of a tablet PC.
Both the cover and main displays feature wider horizontal screens, which are expected to further enhance the multitasking efficiency the new product emphasizes. The Z Fold7 and its successor Z Fold8 Ultra have a more elongated 21:9 cover display and support a main display with a nearly square 10:9 aspect ratio.
Along with this, the new product will be the industry's first to feature Google's new AI agent (assistant) "Gemini Intelligence" through an update to the Google Android 17-based Galaxy OS "One UI 9.0." The Galaxy S26, currently equipped with One UI 8.5, allows the AI agent to perform tasks on its own with voice commands alone, such as operating applications to hail a taxi. Going further, One UI 9.0 enables the AI agent to even multitask, moving between the multiple apps needed for a task on its own.
The new product also enhances hardware performance by introducing, for the first time in the series, a titanium alloy material into the display panel — "Flex Titanium," which boosts rigidity 20-fold and improves crease — as well as the top-performing application processor (AP, brain chip), Qualcomm's "Snapdragon 8 Elite 5th Generation." The Z Fold8 is reported to launch at a minimum of $1,899 (2.81 million won) for the base configuration, and the Z Fold8 Ultra at $2,099 (3.1 million won).
Samsung Electronics will also unveil at this Unpacked the new "Galaxy Watch9" series smartwatch, with enhanced AI healthcare features and brain chip. The first glasses-type device developed jointly with Google, the "AI Glasses," will also have its actual product displayed for the first time.
