Beyond the Alphabet is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world both inside and out of the confines of Mountain View.
It's been a couple of days since Google officially revealed its entire flagship lineup in the Pixel 10 series. However, it did so in a way that was less of a spectacle and felt more like a morning talk show. Sure, part of the reason it felt like that was because Jimmy Fallon was the host, but that was really how the overall structure of the "event" felt.
There are two things that Google proved during the event. The first of which is that it's clear Google is doing whatever it can to appeal to a wider audience, beyond just releasing cutesy commercials when new phones are announced. The second, might not be as obvious to some, but host Jimmy Fallon proved that the world is ready (and longing) for a foldable iPhone.
Is this a new Google?
The new format of the Pixel 10 launch event was Google's attempt at getting more consumers excited about the latest phones and features. Traditionally, these kinds of launch events are structured without much wiggle room, and maybe sometimes come with a "skit" designed to inform, excite, and showcase. Instead, we were greeted with a surprise early embargo drop, subsequently followed by Google doing its best impression of "The Tonight Show."
What really drove the point home for me was the actual product showcase portion, where Adrienne Lofton, VP of Global Consumer Marketing at Google, gave us the "CliffNotes" of the new Pixel lineup. It almost felt like one of those morning talk show kitchen segments, with Lofton talking about everything that Google's been cooking up. Google took the idea of a morning talk show and turned it into a device launch, complete with special guests, mini-skits, and a couple of interviews.
Fallon and Lofton played off each other quite well, even when the "A Word" was mentioned regarding Pixelsnap. This is pretty uncommon, and I can't imagine anyone from Samsung or Apple, besides Craig Federighi, even entertaining the idea of participating in something like it. That's to say, kudos to Google for stepping outside of the box, because despite how cringey some of the jokes were, the almost hour and a half long show flew by.
The foldable demand is there, just hiding
With all of that, there was one particular moment that stood out to me, and that's when the Pixel 10 Pro Fold was being shown off. I don't know if it was genuine or not, but Fallon seemed more excited about the Fold than anything else found in the smorgasbord on the table in front of him. For about 30 seconds, it appeared as though he just zoned out while doing nothing but opening and closing the Fold.
Then Lofton went on to talk about how the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first foldable equipped with an IP68 rating, which prompted a bit of forced excitement from Fallon. Without skipping a beat, the very next topic was about Pixelsnap, and how it works "perfectly fine with your Apple MagSafe accessories," to which Fallon responded with "You said the 'A' word." After that, the pair spoke briefly about RCS, which naturally included mentioning the whole Green Bubbles vs. Blue Bubbles trope.
Of the almost 17-minute segment, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold got about two minutes of the spotlight. While the Fold made sporadic appearances throughout the entire event, it was nothing like the rest of the Pixel 10 lineup and Pixel Watch 4.
That, along with Fallon's aforementioned excitement, feigned or otherwise, just drove home the point that foldable phones are still viewed as second-class citizens, albeit more expensive ones. Sadly, I think that will continue to be the case until Apple makes its long-awaited arrival with a foldable iPhone.
A storm might be brewing
Recent headlines might suggest otherwise, with a Canalys report (via CNBC) sharing that Samsung has seen a surge in market share from 23% to 31% between Q2 2024 and Q2 2025. Another report from Counterpoint Research says foldable phone sales "are growing rapidly, especially for book-type foldables" in Europe.
Notably, Samsung shared that both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 demolished pre-order records, "outpacing last year's models by over 25%." The company also revealed that the Fold 7 specifically "is selling nearly 50% faster than the one before it."
Meanwhile, Apple's market share has dropped from 56% to 49% over the time frame. Which, paired with Siri basically being the laughing stock of on-device assistants, doesn't bode well for a company that has been regarded as the "best" for years. Of course, this is just a relatively small sample size, and it's worth noting that Apple's next iPhone isn't expected to launch until next month.
This could result in Apple deciding to move up its internal timeline and release a foldable phone to compete with the likes of Samsung, Google, and Motorola. Last month, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg claimed that Apple will introduce "its first foldable iPhone at the end of next year." Gurman goes on to say that instead of offering its take on a flip-style foldable, we should be seeing something more along the lines of the Z Fold 7, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, etc.
Between the foldable market rebounding in a big way at the same time that Apple is seemingly struggling, we could be in store for the perfect storm that takes the form factor into the mainstream. And not just as a footnote.
