Samsung reportedly wants to crank its foldable smartphone production way up next year and bring somewhere in the range of 5 million to 6 million foldable handsets to market — many of which are going to have an ultra-thin display that we’re now learning some new details about. Details that include the fact that its thinness will be roughly equivalent to that of a human hair.
In line with the recent announcement that the next generation of Samsung’s foldable will most likely feature an all-new display, it seems that Samsung has gone ahead and filed three related trademarks for a new smartphone display. Samsung’s official name for it is “Ultra Thin Glass,” and included among the patent details (spotted by Dutch tech news site LetsGoDigital) is the fact that this particular glass display will be less than 100 micrometers thick (on par with that of human hair). Also, the display will be much more scratch-resistant — while also being more expensive to manufacture.
Bringing a less-fragile and more scratch-resistant screen to the Galaxy Fold 2 would represent a marked improvement, as this recent Galaxy Fold torture test unfortunately shows:
As LetsGoDigital notes, Samsung is working with Dowoo Insys (regarded as one of the industry’s best ultra-thin glass manufacturers), with Samsung having invested the equivalent of more than $10 million dollars in the company to pump up production capacity in Vietnam.
Even though such displays will apparently be more expensive to produce, Samsung is planning to keep its foldable smartphones that sport the new displays on the cheaper side. While the Galaxy Fold launched a few months ago for a little less than $2,000, the Fold 2 (which will feature a clamshell folding design similar to that of the Motorola RAZR) is expected to launch for several hundred dollars less than that. Additionally, the foldable is expected to be introduced sometime after the first of the year.
