A foldable mobile device under way from Samsung
It’s not long before the first foldable phones from Samsung Electronics are slated to hit the market. Next year has been set as the very approximate time frame for their release.
The potential 2019 release will be branded as part of the Samsung Galaxy line of phones, say industry experts.
Park Hyung-woo, a Shinhan Financial analyst believes that starting as early as November the first parts may be supplied to the Samsung Electronics handset manufacturing unit by first-tier subcontractors and affiliates.
Another expert, Kim Jang-yeol, the leader of the research department at Golden Bridge Investment, estimates the suggested retail price of the upcoming Samsung foldable model and to be approximately 2 million won with no carrier subsidies. He also confirms the likelihood of the next-year launch, placing it in the first or the second quarter.
Samsung has also verified the fact that, in fact, a foldable smartphone was under development.
The soon-to-be-released foldable device is supposed to be equipped with a 7.3” OLED screen. In the folded state, the size of the display will decrease to 4.5”.
The novel smartphone will be an extremely exciting device with an outside panel and two inside panels. The latter will come together to form the 7.3” screen when it’s unfolded. The prototype is expected to be demonstrated to the European and American mobile carrier giants privately in meetings held at the Las Vegas technology exhibition next year.
Another confirmation came from Kim Choon-gon, a spokesman for Samsung Electronics, who did confirm that the company was developing a smartphone that would feature a ‘true foldable display’, but had no comments on other features, functions or specifications for the new model.
Several patents are pending in connection to the phone, including one related to its foldable screen that allows to internal parts to remain intact. The most recent patent describes the ‘artificial muscle’, the special component that allows for all the parts of the phone to move synchronously along with the screen, so that it is protected.
No official commentaries were available at this time through the Samsung Display press service.
Source