Samsung's foldable smartphone may finally be close to becoming a commercial project, according to a new report by ETNews. Citing industry sources, the report says the Korean giant plans to come up with the foldable display's final design in March, mass produce panels in September, and ultimately start mass production of the foldable smartphone in November. An official announcement of the device will reportedly come in December or early 2019. Yes, that's not what one would classify as “coming soon”, but considering Samsung's foldable phone has been in development for many years, a dozen more months wouldn't seem all that long.
Samsung's foldable phone might have a 7.3-inch display
According to ETNews, the foldable OLED display will measure 7.3 inches, with the device folding inwards to act as a phone and vice versa when required to perform tablet duties. Samsung Display is reportedly focusing on making a display folds in and out smoothly without showing any creases, and based on the erroneous translation of the report from Google, the company will be showing off the foldable display to “major customers” behind closed doors at the ongoing CES event in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, that's what such reports always say, and even if the foldable display is on, well, display at CES, there's no way to be sure that is actually the case.
And, of course, there's no guarantee that the foldable phone will make an appearance by the end of this year. There have been so many rumors of “bendable” and “foldable” phones being ready for prime time in the last couple of years that it's foolish to put stock on reports until we see something more substantial than “information from industry sources.” Yes, Samsung itself has said that it's aiming to unveil its first foldable phone in 2018, but foldable smartphones aren't going to be easy to mass produce, so it's best to keep a lid on our hopes of seeing one in the flesh anytime soon.
