It looks like Samsung is dropping the ‘Z’ tag from some of its flagship devices, likely owing to the letter’s relation to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The change only seems to be applicable in a few Eastern European countries as of right now — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as spotted by @TheGalox_ on Twitter.
In Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia Samsung has removed the Z branding from their foldables pic.twitter.com/0zbHYeMYyD
— Anthony (@TheGalox_) March 29, 2022
Visiting the online store of any of the above countries shows that the Flip3 and Fold3 listings have the ‘Z’ missing, though that’s not all. Samsung likely wants to make it clear that it doesn’t associate with Russian beliefs, and as a result, the Seoul, South Korea-based company is also reportedly printing new boxes for the two devices without the ‘Z.’
It’s worth noting however that the Ukrainian Samsung website still has the ‘Z’ branding, and so do other European countries’ stores. It’s likely that those storefronts will also soon reflect the change, though it’s unclear whether it will reflect in North American markets as well.
Source: @TheGalox_