Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, launched in Korea on October 23. What were people saying on social media right after launch? How did reactions to the Samsung Galaxy Fold8 compare during the same period?
Using Hashscraper Social Listening, we collected posts mentioning the two products across 11 channels—including blogs, news, cafés, communities, YouTube, TikTok, X, Instagram, and Threads—for seven days from October 22 to 28. There were 2,485 posts in total. Of those, AI read 1,885 posts individually and classified them as positive, neutral, or negative.
Definition. Social listening is the practice of collecting posts from blogs, communities, social media, and news to analyze how often a product or brand is mentioned (mention volume), what words appear alongside it (related terms), and what sentiment people express about it (positive/negative).
Definition. Positive/negative classification means AI reads each post and categorizes it as positive, neutral, or negative. The percentages in this report are calculated only from classified posts (1,047 for iPhone Duo and 838 for Galaxy Fold8).
TL;DR
- The iPhone Duo received 1.6 times more mentions. Over seven days, there were 1,531 posts about the iPhone Duo and 954 about the Galaxy Fold8 (a 61.6% vs. 38.4% share). The iPhone Duo alone received 658 posts on October 27.
- The reactions were the complete opposite. Negative sentiment was 51.5% for the iPhone Duo and 17.5% for the Galaxy Fold8. The positive rate for the Galaxy Fold8 (34.0%) was twice that of the iPhone Duo (16.3%).
- Discussion around the iPhone Duo centered on “screen damage.” Top related terms included screen, hinge, display, defect, damage, and crack. For the Galaxy Fold8, price, comparison, and Samsung were at the center of the conversation.
1. Mention Volume — The iPhone Duo Exploded Four Days After Launch
During the first three days after launch, the two products were discussed at similar levels. In fact, Galaxy Fold8 posts accounted for a larger share on October 22 and 23. The trend shifted starting on October 26.
[Keyword share trend — Starting October 26, the iPhone Duo's share significantly surpasses that of the Galaxy Fold8](images/041/01_키워드비교점유율.png)
▲ This shows the share each product accounted for among posts about both products published that day. The iPhone Duo's share rose to approximately 77% on October 27.
| Date | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Fold8 |
|---|---|---|
| 10-22 | 32 | 56 |
| 10-23 (iPhone Duo launch) | 91 | 126 |
| 10-24 | 119 | 111 |
| 10-25 | 107 | 151 |
| 10-26 | 262 | 190 |
| 10-27 | 658 | 195 |
| 10-28 (through posts collected at 8 a.m.) | 262 | 125 |
| Total | 1,531 | 954 |
Posts about the iPhone Duo jumped to 262 on October 26 and 658 on October 27. This coincided with television news reports repeatedly covering screen damage and foreign media reports that Apple had acknowledged the defect.
[iPhone Duo mention volume trend by channel — Peak on October 27](images/041/02_아이폰듀오언급량추이.png)
▲ A stacked chart of iPhone Duo posts by channel. All channels surged together on October 27. Community posts were the most numerous at 559 (36.5%).
2. Related Terms — “Screen · Hinge · Defect” for iPhone Duo, “Price · Comparison” for Galaxy Fold8
Related terms are words that appeared alongside the keyword in posts. Even if a word appears multiple times in the same post, it is counted only once.
[iPhone Duo related-term map — Apple, screen, issue, hinge, and product are closest](images/041/03_아이폰듀오_연관어.png)
▲ iPhone Duo related-term map. The closer a word is to the center and the larger its text, the more frequently it appeared together.
The top 15 words mentioned alongside the iPhone Duo were as follows:
Apple 514 · screen 415 · issue 254 · hinge 230 · product 226 · display 225 · foldable 218 · defect 212 · internal 208 · launch 182 · official 171 · time 161 · device 158 · replacement 153 · price 150
From 16th place onward came controversy 149, acknowledgment 146, damage 144, cause 143, durability 138, and crack 118. In the first week after a new product launch, design, camera, and performance typically rank highly. For the iPhone Duo, those spots were filled by questions of “why and how severely does the screen break?”
[Galaxy Fold8 related-term map — Screen, Samsung, price, Apple, and standard are closest](images/041/04_갤럭시폴드8_연관어.png)
▲ Galaxy Fold8 related-term map. “Apple,” a competing product, ranks within the top five.
The Galaxy Fold8's related terms were screen 237, Samsung 230, price 188, Apple 164, and standard 161. Comparison 121 and difference 106 also ranked highly. This means a significant share of Galaxy Fold8 posts addressed the question, “How does it compare with the iPhone Duo?” An eighth-generation product was brought back to the center of the conversation thanks to a competitor's new release.
3. Positive/Negative Sentiment — 51.5% Negative vs. 17.5%
[iPhone Duo positive/negative summary — 16.3% positive, 51.5% negative; Naver News has the highest negative rate](images/041/05_아이폰듀오긍부정요약.png)
[iPhone Duo positive/negative ratio donut chart — 171 positive, 337 neutral, 539 negative](images/041/06_아이폰듀오긍부정비율.png)
▲ iPhone Duo: Of 1,047 posts classified by AI, 539 (51.5%) were negative.
[Galaxy Fold8 positive/negative ratio donut chart — 285 positive, 406 neutral, 147 negative](images/041/09_갤럭시폴드8_긍부정_비율.png)
▲ Galaxy Fold8: Of 838 posts classified by AI, 285 (34.0%) were positive and 147 (17.5%) were negative.
| Category | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Fold8 |
|---|---|---|
| Classified posts | 1,047 | 838 |
| Positive | 171 (16.3%) | 285 (34.0%) |
| Neutral | 337 (32.2%) | 406 (48.4%) |
| Negative | 539 (51.5%) | 147 (17.5%) |
For the iPhone Duo, negative posts outnumbered positive posts by more than three to one. For the Galaxy Fold8, conversely, positive posts were nearly twice as numerous as negative posts.
4. Why? — Breaking It Down by Topic Reveals the Reasons
AI reviewed a sample of posts and identified eight topics, then categorized each classified post by the topics it covered. If a post discussed multiple topics, it was counted in each relevant topic.
[iPhone Duo positive/negative sentiment by topic — Screen durability and damage issues dominate with 426 posts, most of them negative](images/041/07_아이폰듀오주제별긍부정.png)
▲ iPhone Duo. “Screen durability and damage issues” leads all other topics by a wide margin with 426 posts, most of which are negative.
[Galaxy Fold8 positive/negative sentiment by topic — Price and purchase benefits are most discussed with 229 posts, with a high positive share](images/041/10_갤럭시폴드8_주제별_긍부정.png)
▲ Galaxy Fold8. “Price and purchase benefits” is the most discussed topic with 229 posts, most of which are positive or neutral.
| Topic | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Fold8 |
|---|---|---|
| Screen durability and damage issues | 426 | 110 |
| Repair costs and warranty policy | 186 | 40 |
| Price and purchase benefits | 133 | 229 |
| Initial availability and supply issues | 126 | 38 |
| App optimization and compatibility issues | 70 | 26 |
| Screen crease and hinge mechanism | 60 | 52 |
| Camera and key feature differences | 55 | 47 |
| Marketing and brand collaborations | 15 | 58 |
The second most common topic for the iPhone Duo was “repair costs and warranty policy” (186 posts). Discussion immediately followed on how much screen repair would cost if it broke and whether free replacement was available. “Initial availability and supply issues” (126 posts) was also substantial. This was because reports of sellouts on launch day were followed by reports that replacement stock was unavailable.
For the Galaxy Fold8, “marketing and brand collaborations” (58 posts) was mentioned more often than for the iPhone Duo. News about a collaboration with girl group RESCENE emerged during the same week.
5. Sentiment Varied by Channel — News Was Almost Entirely Negative
[iPhone Duo positive/negative sentiment by channel — News is almost entirely negative, while blogs and Tistory have many neutral posts](images/041/08_아이폰듀오채널별긍부정.png)
▲ Positive/negative sentiment for the iPhone Duo by channel. Bar lengths are normalized to 100%, and the number in parentheses is the count of classified posts.
| Channel | iPhone Duo negative rate | Galaxy Fold8 negative rate |
|---|---|---|
| Naver News | 97.1% (34 of 35 posts) | 12.4% (12 of 97 posts) |
| Communities | 65.3% (96 of 147 posts) | 34.4% (55 of 160 posts) |
| Blind · Arca Live | 54.4% (62 of 114 posts) | 46.2% (6 of 13 posts) |
| 61.8% (55 of 89 posts) | 0% (0 of 43 posts) | |
| X | 61.3% (57 of 93 posts) | 7.9% (3 of 38 posts) |
| TikTok | 61.0% (50 of 82 posts) | 15.9% (7 of 44 posts) |
| YouTube | 55.2% (48 of 87 posts) | 6.1% (2 of 33 posts) |
| Naver Blog | 26.0% (20 of 77 posts) | 10.3% (10 of 97 posts) |
Three points stand out.
- News was almost entirely negative. Of 35 iPhone Duo news posts, 34 were negative. Coverage focused on damage, defects, and stock shortages.
- Blogs and Tistory had many neutral posts. This was because they contained many informational posts such as unboxings, setup instructions, and usage tips. Sentiment varied significantly by channel even for the same product.
- The Galaxy Fold8 had zero negative Instagram posts. On Naver Blog, 53.6% were positive (52 of 97 posts). There were many posts sharing real-world usage reviews, customization, and setup tips.
6. What People Were Actually Saying on Social Media
iPhone Duo — Negative Side
Words that appeared relatively frequently in posts AI classified as negative included cause, immediately after, crack, occurrence, center, and acknowledgment. The phrase pattern—“a crack occurred in the center of the screen immediately after launch, and Apple acknowledged the cause”—remained clearly visible in the language. Titles of posts that received strong reactions included:
- “‘iPhone Duo’ cost over 3 million won… and it went ‘crack’ as soon as it was unfolded?” (TV news video)
- “‘Competitor phones are cheap,’ they said… then the iPhone Duo screen goes ‘crack’ after four folds?” (TV news video)
- “iPhone Duo screens splitting with a ‘crack’… Apple acknowledges defect, but says ‘stock shortage’” (TV news video)
- “The iPhone Duo damage defect whose cause has supposedly been ‘fully identified’” (YouTube, approximately 3.59 million views)
- “Looks like you shouldn't let foreign material get into the iPhone Duo hinge” (community)
- “iPhone Duo... just because it's first generation... that doesn't make this okay.” (community)
The next most common complaint after durability was app optimization. Posts saying, “Durability is one thing, but the app optimization is so poor that it is drawing even more criticism,” spread through communities and cafés.
iPhone Duo — Positive Side
There were clearly positive posts as well. These included claims such as “the crease is invisible,” gaming screen ratios compared with the iPad mini, 72-hour usage reviews, and initial setup tips. Overseas TikTok unboxing videos received millions of views. Several comparisons also said that the iPhone Duo was better when it came specifically to screen creases.
Galaxy Fold8 — Reassessed Beside the Duo
- “JerryRig just bent the new foldables. Z Fold8: still works.” (TikTok, approximately 1.8 million views) — A post comparing the two products based on an overseas durability-test video.
- “The reason Galaxy Fold8 sales are actually rising right now is...” (YouTube) — It cited price differences and weight.
- “The Fold8 is my phone for life” (community)
There were negative posts about the Galaxy Fold8 as well. The most strongly received criticism was that it does not have a telephoto camera. A review by a major IT YouTuber criticizing the lack of a telephoto camera in a high-end phone costing more than 2.27 million won received approximately 600,000 views in communities.
[Galaxy Fold8 positive/negative related terms — Positive posts include consideration, color, carrier, and points; negative posts include YouTuber, Apple Store, and repair cost](images/041/11_갤럭시폴드8_긍부정_연관어.png)
▲ Positive/negative related terms for the Galaxy Fold8. Green words appeared more often in positive posts, while red words appeared more often in negative posts. The positive side includes many words from people considering a purchase, such as “consideration,” “color,” “carrier,” and “points.”
7. At a Glance — First-Week Report Card
| Metric | iPhone Duo | Galaxy Fold8 |
|---|---|---|
| 7-day mention volume | 1,531 posts (61.6% share) | 954 posts (38.4% share) |
| Most-mentioned day | October 27, 658 posts | October 27, 195 posts |
| Positive / Negative | 16.3% / 51.5% | 34.0% / 17.5% |
| Most-discussed topic | Screen durability and damage issues (426 posts) | Price and purchase benefits (229 posts) |
| Channel with the highest negative rate | Naver News (97.1%, of 35 posts) | Blind · Arca Live (46.2%, of 13 posts) |
| Strengths identified by social media | Less visible screen crease, wide screen ratio | Eighth-generation proven hinge, lower price, lighter weight |
| Weaknesses identified by social media | Screen damage, repair costs, stock shortages, app optimization | No telephoto camera |
There is also a point that should be made fairly. The iPhone Duo is a newly released first-generation product, while the Galaxy Fold is already in its eighth generation. It is natural for a new product to dominate attention during its first week. High mention volume itself is also evidence that market expectations were that much greater. What this data shows is not “which product is better,” but “what consumers talked about during the first week.”
8. Implications — First-Generation Defects Become Fixed in Social Media During the First Week
- First impressions were set within seven days. The iPhone Duo had 118 negative posts over the four days from October 22 to 25, but 421 over the three days from October 26 to 28—a 3.6-fold increase. It took less than three days for coverage to spread to communities and for communities to spread it again through short-form content.
- “Acknowledgment” and “replacement” also remained as negative words. Even after the manufacturer acknowledged the defect and announced free replacements, consumers interpreted it as evidence that “there really was a problem.” Inventory and replacement speed matter more to actual public sentiment than response wording.
- Competing products are reassessed even when they do nothing. The Galaxy Fold8 recorded a 34.0% positive rate during the same week despite having little new news. Social media was filled with comparison posts seeking a “proven alternative.”
- Each channel must be viewed separately. The same product was 97% negative in news and 26% negative on blogs. Looking at only one channel can lead to a major misunderstanding of public sentiment.
How This Report Was Created
- Entered keywords — We entered the two keywords “iPhone Duo” and “Galaxy Fold8” into Hashscraper Social Listening.
- Selected channels and period — We selected 11 channels, the most recent seven days, and a maximum of 100 posts per keyword for each channel (site).
- Collected data — We collected the data with one click. This report is based on collection results completed at 8 a.m. on October 28.
- Reviewed the analytics dashboard — Mention volume, related terms, and keyword comparisons are generated immediately.
- AI positive/negative classification — AI classifies up to 2,000 evenly selected posts and displays results by topic and channel.
All images in this article are direct screenshots of that analytics dashboard.
Limitations of the Analysis
- A maximum of 100 posts was collected from each channel. Since several channels reached this limit, the actual difference in mention volume may be greater than shown in this table.
- Positive/negative figures were calculated only from classified posts. For the iPhone Duo, 1,047 of 1,531 posts (68%) were classified; for the Galaxy Fold8, 838 of 954 posts (88%) were classified.
- Overseas posts are included on TikTok, X, and other channels.
- Facts cited in this article—including the cause of damage, acknowledgment of defects, price, and water/dust resistance ratings—are content discussed on social media and in news coverage. They were not verified against official manufacturer announcements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What was the social media reaction during the iPhone Duo's first week after launch?
A. It received many mentions, but the reaction was negative. There were 1,531 posts over the seven days from October 22 to 28, and 51.5% of the 1,047 posts classified by AI were negative. The most discussed topic was screen durability and damage issues (426 posts).
Q. Which had better social media reactions: the iPhone Duo or Galaxy Fold8?
A. During the same period, the Galaxy Fold8 had a 34.0% positive rate and a 17.5% negative rate. Its reaction was better than that of the iPhone Duo (16.3% positive, 51.5% negative). However, the iPhone Duo received 1.6 times more mentions.
Q. What channels does social listening collect posts from?
A. This analysis used 11 channels: Naver Blog, Naver News, Naver/Daum Cafés, Tistory, communities, Blind/Arca Live, YouTube, TikTok, X, Instagram, and Threads.
Q. Was positive/negative sentiment classified by people?
A. AI read each post individually and classified it as positive, neutral, or negative. In this analysis, 1,885 posts across both products were classified.
Q. Can our brand or competitors be analyzed this way too?
A. Yes. Simply changing the keywords creates the same dashboard. It can be used for new product launches, recall/issue response, and competitor campaign monitoring.
Conclusion
The iPhone Duo captured more than 60% of the conversation around the two products during its first week after launch. However, half of that conversation was negative, centered on screens, hinges, and defects. The Galaxy Fold8 had fewer mentions, but was reassessed in comparison posts as a “proven alternative.”
Public sentiment is not created by a single news report, but by thousands of posts that differ across channels. Collecting those posts every day and viewing them as data can help ensure you do not miss the moment a crisis grows or a competitor gains an opportunity.
Get Started Now
- If you are curious about public sentiment around your brand or competitors: Inquire About Crawling
- Learn about collecting review and VOC data: Review · VOC Data
- Learn about market and competitor monitoring: Market · Competitor Monitoring
