Will Samsung present the world with a folding smartphone this year?

Fariha Khan
February 14, 2017
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It is a norm for Samsung to present the world with 2 major Android flagship handsets every year. That includes a new Galaxy S model and a Galaxy Note phablet. This year the company may unveil a third type of flagship. Yes, you guessed it right. A handset with a foldable display.

According to a recent report, Samsung’s most cheeky smartphone yet is anticipated to begin a limited production in the Q4 of 2017. That’s the period when Apple sells its most handsets. iPhone 8 might be this year’s hero for the quarter. The iPhone 8 will have major design changes. It means that it will be interesting to see if Samsung will want to face it with a foldable phone that would be contrasting to anything else out there.

It has been a long time that Samsung has been teasing foldable smartphones at a number of consumer electronic shows. Samsung will release such a device this year as per a number of sources. The company already has patents describing technology required for foldable smartphones. Samsung competitors such as Microsoft, LG as well as Apple have similar patented inventions as well, signifying that Samsung will not be the only one into the manufacturing of foldable smartphones in the future.

It’s not clear for now if Samsung’s foldable phone will really begin selling by the end of the year. According to reports, mass production of the clam-type smartphone may not start until the second half of next year. The company might have to address some technical problems. As it appears to be, Samsung is dealing with problems concerning the production and dependability of polyimide-based plastic covers for the screen, which is the main component of a folding phone.

According to reports, PI substrates are being produced in huge volume, Pi-based plastic covers with dependable quality are an issue, and mass-production may not begin until 2018 first two quarters.