Samsung may be the first smartphone maker to release a foldable phone that can double as a tablet. A barrage of patent-based reports showed us various designs that Samsung is considering for such a device, some being far more exciting than others.
Before you get too excited about the Galaxy X foldable phone launching this year, you should know that a pair of conflicting reports from Korea say the phone won’t launch until sometime in December, at best. If not, we’ll have to wait one more year to see the first foldable Galaxy phone hit stores.
Remember back in September when Samsung mobile’s chief tried to steal the iPhone X’s thunder by announcing that a foldable Samsung smartphone will launch this year? It looks like that might not necessarily be the case.
DJ Koh is back again, but this time he spoke to reporters at CES and walked back his comments. “It is difficult to talk about the date of the launch now. We want to unveil the products properly but now seems a bit early,” Koh said, according to The Korea Herald.
“We want to have a good reaction from customers once the phone is out in the market. But there are still durability issues that we need to address,” he continued. Reports last year did say that the Galaxy X might launch in limited numbers at first so Samsung can gauge demand. That seems to still be the case, considering what Koh just said.
Earlier on Monday, a report from ETNews offered a different view on the matter.
The report said Samsung might launch the Galaxy X in December, a device that would feature a 7.3-inch OLED screen in tablet mode. The device will also have a smartphone mode when folded, the report seems to suggest, although it’s unclear how big it’ll be.
The foldable display should be developed by March, with mass production set to start in September. The final version of the phone could be ready in November, in time for either a December or early 2019 launch.
ETNews does echo some Koh’s remarks related to quality. Samsung is apparently looking to develop a foldable OLED screen that will not show any creases. Prototypes of the display will be supposedly shown at CES behind closed doors to key Samsung clients. That’s hardly a surprise, considering that Samsung has demoed plenty of foldable smartphone concepts at the same show in previous years.
The report notes that when it launches, the Galaxy X will be a premium phone, both when it comes to performance and price.
