14 DAY TRIAL // Now that Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the smartphone maker can focus on other upcoming devices. The Galaxy Note 8 is rumored to arrive later this year, but there’s another exciting phone that Samsung has been working on for quite some time now.
Samsung Galaxy X is the highly anticipated smartphone with foldable AMOLED display that’s been under development for quite some time now. Rumors previously said that production of foldable prototypes might start as early as Q3 this year, while the device could be launched next year.
However, Samsung’s Display principal engineer stated that foldable smartphones might not be commercialized until 2019. “Because the bezel-free display currently sells well, we still have enough time to develop foldable display. The technology is expected to be mature around 2019,” said Kim Tae-woong, Samsung Display’s principal engineer.
Single-foldable smartphones will arrive first
An analyst from HI Investment and Securities predicted the same timeline for the foldable smartphone, saying that Samsung foldable smartphones could hit shelves in 2019, as Samsung Display already enjoys 20% of operating profits with bezel-less displays, and the company doesn’t need to sell the new hardware. The foldable smartphone could be unveiled when “demand for bezel-free handsets slows down.”
Aside from this, Samsung Display must also solve some technical issues with the new foldable display technology, but the engineer didn’t wish to provide any details. Most likely, single foldable smartphones would be unveiled first, while multi-foldable devices will be introduced later.
The South Korean company might have already developed a prototype of a foldable smartphone and showcased it during the MWC 2017 to a very limited number of partners.
Samsung isn’t the only company that’s exploring the idea of a foldable smartphone, as Apple also patented the concept of a foldable iPhone, while LG is currently working on a display with the capacity to fold in half. It remains to be seen if Samsung will introduce the first foldable smartphone to the market.