Folding Smartphones have been circulating the internet for quite some time now. The highly-anticipated technology will not hit the market until 2019, a Samsung engineer has predicted. Apparently, there are still a few technical problems that need to be solved.
Samsung Display principal engineer Kim Tae-woong said in a statement, “Because the bezel-free display currently sells so well, we still have enough time to develop foldable display.” He added, “The technology is expected to be mature around 2019,” the Korea Herald has reported.
Chung Won-seok, HI Investment and Securities analyst, agreed with the statement.
He explained that Samsung does not need to sell the new hardware because the company is already enjoying 20 percent of operating profits with their bezel-free smartphones.
Samsung is clearly taking its time perfecting the malleable technology while users’ interest in bendable screens continues to grow.
Foldable smartphone technology
Phone manufacturers have experimented unsuccessfully with the foldable technology. Kyocera Corporation, a Japanese multinational electronics maker, released a smartphone on Sprint called the “Echo” that folded in half. However, the company used two separated display panels instead of using a truly folding screen.
Samsung was supposedly going to launch its own folding smartphone dubbed as “Project Valley” in February during the Mobile World Congress but the device never made an appearance.
The future of bendable displays
Samsung is currently leading the way when it comes to bendable displays. The company has used the technology in its flagship phones for the past few years, most recently with the Galaxy S8, which is expected to launch this month. The technology is used to minimize the bezels on the front of the device which allows the display that appears to pour over the edges of the phone.
In addition, Kolon Industries executive Kang Chung-seok predicts that between three and five companies will start to produce foldable smartphones commercially in 2018.
