Foldable phones have been talked about for a long time, but so far we haven’t really seen a worthwhile entry into the category. There have been phones that can fold, like the ZTE Axon M, but they typically utilize multiple displays. The perfect foldable phone would have a single display that can fold. Samsung (among others) has been working on such a device, and we may see it this year already.
Samsung’s history with foldable phones has been well documented. Just this year alone, we heard they were planning to start production in November, the phone could cost $2,000, a canceled prototype leaked, code was discovered, and Samsung sent foldable displays to competitors to boost the market. The latest news comes from Samsung CEO DJ Koh himself.
Koh said to CNBC, “it’s time to deliver” on a foldable device. He cited consumer surveys that showed there is a market for such a device. He went on to say:
“You can use most of the uses … on foldable status. But when you need to browse or see something, then you may need to unfold it. But even unfolded, what kind of benefit does that give compared to the tablet? If the unfolded experience is the same as the tablet, why would they buy it? So every device, every feature, every innovation should have a meaningful message to our end customer. So when the end customer uses it, (they think) ‘wow, this is the reason Samsung made it’.”
Koh did not give any details about how Samsung will execute this device. It’s widely assumed that they will be using a foldable display, rather than rehashing existing “foldable” phones that have flopped. Koh hinted that we will learn more about the device later this year at the Samsung Developer Conference in November. If that does come true, an actual launch would still likely be far off. Are you excited about the prospect?
Source: CNBC
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