The next frontier for Samsung could be foldable displays, if rumors are to be believed. The manufacturer could introduce a device with a display that physically folds to the market as early as 2017, Korean publication ET News reported Friday.
Foldable displays are a concept Samsung has been developing for years. Rumors of a device with a display that could bend or be rolled up surrounded the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in 2013, but so far no such device has hit the market. However, ET News claims Samsung’s foldable display smartphone could be a smartphone and tablet hybrid, which would have a 5-inch display when folded and a 7-inch display when open. The manufacturer has reportedly completed a prototype of the device and hopes to mass-produce foldable displays during the second half of 2016.
The technology has been slow coming. Many expected foldable display devices in 2013. Samsung introduced its first flexible display smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Round , as a market prototype in October 2013. The handset’s display was flexible to allow its overall shape to curve vertically, but the device itself was not physically foldable.
This was quickly followed by another market prototype, the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which launched in September 2014. The Round and the Edge paved the way for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy S7 Edge, which rank among Samsung’s top flagships at the moment. Following many curved display devices, Samsung has now patented its edge display as a specific type of screen and is selling the technology to other manufacturers for use on their own devices. Manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi are expected to release device, similar to the Edge smartphones in the coming months and years.
At this time there are no other details about Samsung’s foldable display smartphone, but more news about the device is sure to surface.
