We could finally see a foldable phone from Samsung, based on the company’s latest teaser. Samsung has updated its profile image on Twitter and Facebook to show its name folded in half, which appears to be hinting at a foldable phone.
What to expect from the foldable phone from Samsung
Samsung revealed no other details about its long-awaited foldable phone, but we can expect more information later this week. The Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) will kick off on Wednesday. The conference will allow developers access to the latest Samsung developer tools and give them a chance to talk with experts who work on developing tech solutions for the Korean company.
The Korean website The Bell also reported display specifications for the foldable phone from Samsung. The foldable smartphone, which is reportedly code-named “Winner,” could feature two Super AMOLED displays: a 7.3-inch primary display and a 4.6-inch secondary display.
Users will be able to use Samsung’s foldable phone as a smartphone when folded and as a tablet when opened. The hinge mechanism the company is using reportedly ensures a small space between the panels when folded, the report notes. Such a setup ensures that the panels don’t break upon impact. The hinge mechanism will also reportedly allow the device to fold at various angles. However, it is not known if it will be usable in all scenarios or not.
The foldable phone from Samsung will reportedly run on a new user interface developed jointly by Samsung and Google. The handset will likely be powered by Samsung’s next-generation 7-nanometer chipset or by Qualcomm’s new 7-nanometer Snapdragon SoC in the United States. The foldable phone is expected to come with 512 GB of internal storage.
Price, name and release date
Initially the project was reportedly code-named “Project Valley,” while later it was changed to Project Winner. There have been reports referring to the foldable phone from Samsung as the Galaxy X, signifying the design change Apple adopted with the iPhone X. However, more recent reports call it the Galaxy F.
Samsung will reportedly manufacture about 100,000 units per month of the handset, while its production estimate is of 500,000 to 1 million units per year. As the first big player to release a foldable phone, the Korean firm expects to sell limited quantities of its first-generation foldable phone.
Samsung will likely release the handset early next year at CES. It’s expected to be an experimental device with a high price tag and will be sold globally. The price of this unique handset is also expected to be unusual, with analysts expecting it to be somewhere near the $2,000 mark.
Success of foldable phone is crucial for Samsung
Samsung’s 2018 flagship smartphones have not performed according to expectations, and this was reflected in the company’s quarterly earnings reports. Samsung’s 2018 trio of premium smartphones is seen as the most boring flagships released by the company in the past few years.
Although the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are powerful upgrades compared to the S8, they have the same design and offer no new compelling features. The Note 9 also had the same drawback, offering only improved specifications compared to the Note 8. The Note 9 also lacked compelling features, except for the new S Pen stylus with Bluetooth.
Now that 2018 was a letdown for Samsung, 2019 will be very important for the company, and based on the latest rumors, it could prove a very big year for the company. Samsung is expected to start the year with the Galaxy S10, which is expected to be a completely redesigned model. The handset will likely have several new and innovative features, like an in-display fingerprint sensor, a completely new camera system, and an all-screen design with a front camera possibly embedded in the screen.
Samsung is expected to follow up the Galaxy S10 with another highly-anticipated phone–the foldable handset. More details on the foldable phone from Samsung could be shared later this week, while the handset could be released some time in the first quarter of next year.
Samsung was in an unofficial race with Huawei to be the first to launch a foldable phone. Both companies lost to a little-known Chinese brand. However, there is a good chance the foldable phone announced last week won’t be released outside of China, and it is not that impressive either.
