Skip to main content

Samsung will reportedly launch a foldable phone next year

Samsung will reportedly launch a foldable phone next year

Share this story

A bendable phone concept.
A bendable phone concept.
Image: IndVideos

Samsung is working on a foldable smartphone that might be introduced early next year, according to The Wall Street Journal. This phone will reportedly feature a 7-inch display that can bend in half to transform it into a wallet shape. The outside of the device would still have some sort of display. Because of its two displays, the company would have to build in a larger battery, which is worrisome because of the prior Galaxy Note 7 battery issues (aka explosions). This phone could cost more than $1,500 and would first be marketed toward niche users, like gamers.

This foldable phone concept isn’t new for Samsung; we’ve been reporting on it for years. In October last year, we published images of a Samsung patent that showed off a bendable phone design. It looks similar to what The Wall Street Journal describes.

A Samsung bendable phone patent.
A Samsung bendable phone patent.

The company has even said it was working on this device multiple times. In April 2017, Samsung Display’s principal engineer, Kim Tae-woong said the company was focusing on bezel-free displays first and would then pivot to bendable displays. The company has now introduced multiple phones with minimal bezels, albeit not completely bezel-free, so it seems the team could be refocusing on something new. At the time, Samsung said it would likely release a bendable phone in 2019, which, again, aligns with the Journal’s reporting.

Since that time, other companies like ZTE have introduced folding phones. ZTE’s Axon M was released in the US through AT&T, and it features two, non-flexible displays. The idea was that users could watch full-screen movies or easily multitask. Samsung’s phone might not be any more ideal for multitasking or gaming, but it would at least look cool and be super unique.