Samsung confirms foldable smartphone to be unveiled this year
The long-awaited foldable smartphone with a bendable display from Samsung may finally be right around the corner. DJ Koh, CEO of Samsung’s mobile division revealed to CNBC that the company will be showing off the new device at the Samsung Developers Conference in November. DJ Koh said that it’s “it’s time to deliver” on the device that’s been rumored for more than two years — often referred to as the Samsung Galaxy X.
Not many details were given regarding the phone’s design, but DJ KoH emphasized that the experience offered by Samsung’s foldable smartphone would be different than a tablet when the device is unfolded. KoH also mentioned that users would be able to use most of the phone’s feature when the device is in its “foldable status.”
“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 (consumers) 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’.”
Unfortunately, DJ KoH did not say when the device will be available for purchase. Samsung has been playing around with the foldable smartphone concept for years and we actually saw working prototypes of Lenovo’s take on a foldable smartphone at Lenovo World back in 2016. Reports surfaced back in January that the foldable Samsung Galaxy X was shown off at CES behind closed doors and that Samsung Galaxy X mass production would start in November. These rumors align with the new report from CNBC, suggesting that the retail launch of the Samsung Galaxy X may finally be set for Q1 of 2019.
Are you ready to embrace the foldable smartphone future?
[CNBC]