‘Reheated leftovers’: Samsung mocks Apple after iPhone Duo launch with cheeky jabs, billboard blitz and a reminder of its years in foldables

Apple has finally folded into the foldable-phone race, and Samsung is wasting no time reminding everyone who got there first. Just hours after Apple unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, Samsung appeared to have a message for its newest rival. The post does not name Apple or the iPhone Duo, but the timing makes the target difficult to miss. Apple unveiled the Duo on September 9, introducing its first foldable iPhone more than seven years after Samsung entered the category with the Galaxy Fold.

Samsung’s not-so-subtle message

Samsung Canada, in a post shared on its official Instagram account, showed a foldable Samsung phone accompanied by the line: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

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A post shared by Samsung Canada (@samsungcanada)

The reel plays on one of the oldest forms of corporate tech rivalry: letting the product do the talking while the caption delivers the punchline. The message essentially frames Apple's long-awaited arrival in the foldable market as an imitation of an idea Samsung has already spent years developing.

Samsung Mobile US also posted a series of tongue-in-cheek messages on X shortly after Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo. While Samsung did not explicitly mention Apple or the iPhone Duo in the posts, one post read, “Let us know when you're done reheating our leftovers”, while another said, “So far, so same.”

Samsung also joked about its own three-way folding technology: “Making us wait? Fine. We'll be over here, folding 3 ways.”


Samsung launched its original Galaxy Fold in 2019, helping establish foldable smartphones as a distinct premium category. Since then, the company has released successive generations of foldable devices and built the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip lines around the form factor.

Apple, meanwhile, stayed out of the segment until this week's launch.

Samsung takes the fight to billboards

Alongside its social-media jabs, Samsung was already running a much larger global advertising campaign for its foldables. It has been rolling out digital outdoor advertisements in major locations in Seoul, Tokyo and London, among other sites, promoting its Galaxy Z Fold8 series.

The campaign carries messages including “Welcome to Foldables” and “The World's Lightest Fold”, drawing attention to Samsung's push to make its foldable phones thinner and lighter. Samsung says the Galaxy Z Fold8 weighs 201 grams, making it its lightest foldable yet.

Apple finally enters the foldable race

The iPhone Duo opens into a 7.6-inch display and has a 5.4-inch outer screen when folded. Apple says the device is its thinnest iPhone when opened and has designed iOS 27 specifically around the foldable form factor. It starts at $1,999 in the US and will be available from October 23.

The timing gives Samsung an obvious opportunity for a little trolling. For years, Apple has been the company other smartphone makers have been accused of chasing. Now, with Apple entering a category Samsung helped popularise, the roles have temporarily been reversed.

For now, Samsung appears content to enjoy the moment, and deliver its punchline. Apple has folded. Samsung noticed.