Devices with foldable displays are going to flood the market in the coming years, starting with smartphones that fold out into tablets, and tablets that can be folded into laptops. Samsung, Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi, and others are already working on foldable handsets, with Samsung and Huawei expected to unveil their devices next year. Lenovo is rumored to be making a foldable laptop too, and Microsoft keeps dropping hints, intentional or accidental, that a foldable Surface device is in the making. But Samsung just actually confirmed that it’s making a foldable laptop.
“Like foldable smartphones, Samsung is collaborating with display makers to develop laptops with foldable displays that will not just simply fold in and out but create new value and user experience, amid the changing market trends for laptops,” Samsung vice president of PC marketing Lee Min-cheol said during an event on Monday, according to The Korea Herald.
Samsung just unveiled a brand new PC (its second in a matter of days, after the Qualcomm-powered Galaxy Book 2) — the Flash. The notebook’s highlights include high-speed Wi-Fi support (up to 1.7Gbps), retro keyboard inspired by typewriters, and fingerprint sensor. Lee, however, did not elaborate on what kind of features a laptop with a flexible display will have to offer. However, it’s interesting to hear that Samsung is developing OLED technology for bigger screens, as well as tech that would allow big-screen devices like laptops to fold.
A few days ago, a report said that Lenovo had inked a deal with LG for flexible OLED screens. Samsung Display undoubtedly wants to be in a position where it’ll be able to provide foldable screens to PC makers. But it’s unclear when the first Samsung foldable laptop will be launched, considering that Samsung has been pushing back the launch of foldable smartphones for years. The user experience was often cited as a reason for delay.
The Galaxy F, which is the rumored name of its foldable handset, is now expected to be unveiled by March, and launch at some point next year. Samsung could tease the device in November during its developers conference, at which point we may learn more details about its vision for devices with foldable displays.
