Samsung’s foldable phone was said to be a 2017 innovation, but recent reports have suggested that we may have to wait until 2018 to see their first phone launch. Now, the company is setting even more conservative expectations.
Speaking with Korea Herald, Samsung suggests foldable phones won’t hit the consumer market until at least 2019. That’s not to say we won’t see Samsung’s own take on the concept before then, but they may not be ready to hit the market with one until they’ve fully perfected things.
2019 is a long time to wait, but you really don’t want these things to be rushed. All the technology has to be figured out, tweaked, and refined to ensure there are no growing pains for the end user, a mistake that could tarnish brand reputation.
Beyond that, there also may be cost issues associated with the timeline, with expensive new materials eating away at Samsung’s profit margins which they likely need to stay at around 60%. For Samsung’s part, they claim they’re doing just fine with their current smartphone display designs so there’s no need to rush, and to that we say amen.
So, if 2019 is the new expectation, so be it, lest we’re willing to rush into this like we did with 4G and suffer all the effects which come with being an early adopter.
[via Korea Herald]