Samsung teases to unveil foldable smartphone this year

News about Samsung’s upcoming foldable phone isn’t new. What’s new is that the phone might be unveiled this year instead of next year as it was rumored earlier.

Samsung CEO DJ Koh informed CNBC that a foldable smartphone is in works and details will be unveiled later this year, slightly hinting that Samsung might share more about the phone at its Samsung Developer Conference in November.

He said that after analyzing consumer surveys carried out by the company, ‘it’s time to deliver’ on a foldable device as there is a market for it. Though Koh didn’t give much details about how the phone might look like or how would it work, he hinted that the firm is trying to differentiate the experience from a tablet once it is unfolded.

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“You can use most of the uses ... on foldable status. But when you need to browse or see something, then you may need to unfold it. But even unfolded, what kind of benefit does that give compared to the tablet? If the unfolded experience is the same as the tablet, why would they (consumers) buy it?," Koh said last week at the IFA electronics show.

He added, “So every device, every feature, every innovation should have a meaningful message to our end customer. So when the end customer uses it, (they think) ‘wow, this is the reason Samsung made it’.”

Koh admitted despite the development process of the phone being complicated, the tech giant has ‘nearly concluded’ it. The smartphone was previously rumored to be unveiled in 2019, however if the company unveils the smartphone in November, then early 2019 might be its launch date. Moreover, the foldable phone would probably not come in cheap either, as per Business Insider.