A few weeks ago, Samsung mobile chief DJ Koh teased that the company’s first foldable phone will be finally be unveiled this year, after more than two years of delays. The phone has been in development for much longer than that, but it has been popping up more frequently in rumors detailing its imminent launch in the last couple of years. And yet, every story that mentioned the phone claiming that it would soon be unveiled was followed by a report saying Samsung had delayed the release. That’s why we’re not surprised to hear the phone might not be unveiled in 2018 after all.
Samsung walked back some of Koh’s statements soon after IFA 2018, saying that Samsung’s developers conference in November won’t feature a Galaxy F announcement. Samsung’s foldable phone is believed to be called Galaxy F. Before that, Galaxy X was the rumored product name for the handset.
Instead, Samsung said that it may reveal some details about the foldable phone in November, like specs details. However, it’s unclear if that will happen. T3 reports that Samsung’s first foldable “slipped all the way back into 2019.” The phone will be unveiled in early 2019 at the earliest, which means we’re back to were we were before Koh’s IFA interviews.
Earlier rumors suggested that Samsung will launch the Galaxy F and Galaxy S10 in early 2019, with one device expected to debut at CES in early January, followed by the other at MWC in late February.
T3 doesn’t share the source of its information, but come November, we’ll find out whether Samsung plans to tell the world anything about its foldable phone this year or not.
Koh did say that Samsung didn’t want to lose the “world’s first” title when it comes to foldable phones. But Huawei is also gunning for the same crown. The company confirmed recently that its first foldable handset will also be its first 5G handset, teasing that the phone will launch at some point in 2019.
Even if Samsung does end up announcing the Galaxy F next month, you shouldn’t expect it in stores anytime soon. It’s likely the phone will only be available to order much later in 2019.
