Samsung Electronics Co is functioning on a pair of latest foldable smartphones to follow its Galaxy Fold, seeking to seize an untimely lead in latest market segment.
The South Korean manufacturer supposed to be developing a clamshell-like device, and one more that folds away from the user comparable to Huawei Technologies Co’s Mate X, people recognizable with the matter said, asking not to be recognized discussing internal plans. The $1,980 Galaxy Fold that Samsung tactics to release in April folds inward like a notebook.
While it’s still too early to determine how much demand there will be for smartphones with flexible screens, Samsung and other rivals are excited to gain an edge over Apple Inc in the $495 billion industry, particularly amid cooling sales. Xiaomi Corp is functioning on a dual-folding phone, according to a video out in January. The iPhone maker hasn’t announced any plans for a parallel gadget.
“No one knows what the idyllic design is yet,” said Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC. “The time is ripe for experimentation. Many of these designs won’t be victorious, but industry players will learn precious lessons along the way.”
A spokeswoman for Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung declined to comment on plans for latest foldable phones.
Samsung plans to expose the vertically folding phone late this year or early next year, and is using mock-ups to fine-tune the design, the people said. The gadget is intended with an extra screen on the outside, but the manufacturer may remove it depending on how clients respond to a similar display on the Galaxy Fold, they said.
The outfolding device, which previously exists as a prototype after being considered as Samsung’s first foldable gadget, will roll out afterward, the people said. It will be thinner because it has no additional screen, they said. Samsung may also incorporate an in-display fingerprint sensor for its foldable arrangement, as it did for the Galaxy S10 model announced last month, they said.
While Samsung works on latest models, it’s also trying to perk up the toughness of the Galaxy Fold’s display. They’re trying to eliminate a crease that appears on the panel after it’s been folded about 10,000 times, and Samsung is allowing for offering free screen replacements after releasing the product, one of the people said.
The Galaxy Fold’s screen imperfection develops on a defensive film covering the touch sensor bonded with the display underneath, the person said. That’s one motive why Samsung kept the phone in a glass case at MWC in Barcelona last month, the person said. Samsung’s spokeswoman said the Galaxy Fold was displayed that way because it required more awareness on the soon-to-be-launched Galaxy S10, not because there was a difficulty with the quality of the foldable device.
Samsung forecasts manufacture of at least 1 million foldable phones this year. The launch of the device comes as the world’s leading phone maker tries to lure back consumers who have become used to incremental upgrades and are being wooed by Chinese manufacturers’ lower-priced smartphones.
Samsung, which also produces memory chips and televisions, build the foldable displays itself and equipment technology to rivals such as Apple. The South Korean company shipped 291.3 million phones previous year while Huawei sold 205.8 million, according to Strategy Analytics. Samsung will maybe sell more than 40 million units of its sub brand Galaxy S10 in the first year of release, according to Counterpoint.
Samsung used up eight years developing the Galaxy Fold and has worked with Google to adapt the Android operating system for a foldable screen. The company also envisions smartphones with rollable and stretchable displays in the future, Samsung Executive Vice President Chung Eui-suk said on the corporate website previous month.
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