South Korean company hoping to secure foldable phone lead

Mar 6, 2019 08:49 GMT  ·  By

Samsung is working on two new foldable smartphones in addition to the Galaxy Fold, as the South Korean manufacturer hopes an expanded lineup would help it secure the foldable phone market.

A report from Bloomberg reveals that Samsung is experimenting with new designs, as one of the new models could land in the form of a clamshell-like smartphone. This particular device could be unveiled later this year or in early 2020, possibly alongside the successor to the Galaxy S10.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the source reveals that existing mockups come with an extra screen on the outside, though a decision on whether this would be used on the final model or not is yet to be made and it all depends on market reception for the Galaxy Fold.

Fixing the Galaxy Fold

A second smartphone that Samsung is already working on would fold away from the user like Huawei’s Mate X and would be thinner than the other devices because the company doesn’t plan to use an extra screen on it. A prototype has already created, but information on the possible unveiling isn’t yet available.

One of Samsung’s priorities is to install a fingerprint sensor on these devices, and the company wants to use an approach similar to the one of the Galaxy S10, the report adds. This means the fingerprint sensor would be embedded into the screen and allow the device to unlock when the user touches the display.

In the meantime, Samsung also wants to improve the existing Galaxy Fold design and address setbacks like the crease that is generated by folding the device for more than 10,000 times. Bloomberg says Samsung is even considering offering free screen replacements to customers who encounter this problem.

Samsung Galaxy Fold is a project that started more than eight years ago, and the company believes this new technology would become more mainstream quickly, as it estimates to manufacture 1 million Galaxy Folds this year alone.