While earlier reports claimed the long-rumored foldable smartphone from Samsung won’t hit the development phase until March of this year, a new report from South Korea suggests the phone actually debuted in a limited setting at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 held in Las Vegas.
Though, that doesn’t mean the foldable phone is set for release anytime soon because there is an official word available on this that Samsung isn’t targeting its release before 2019-end, mainly because they don’t have the user interface ready for a foldable phone. With the foldable phone showing up in the Las Vegas, we think that’s really the matter that’s keeping this foldable device to hit the stores later than sooner.
The few audiences who were able to take a sneak peek of the foldable phone included Samsung’s partners, with the prototype device supposedly nearing completion, according to a new report from The Korea Herald, which cited sources privy to the private meeting. The goal of the closed-door exhibit was to evaluate potential market reaction to the product.
The sources also claimed that the South Korean OEM introduced two variants of the handset with a foldable display: one which folds inward and another that folds outward. It is understood that Samsung is considering to reserve the outfolding type for future development as it reportedly required more advanced technology.
On the other hand, Samsung is likely to kick off mass production for the inward-folding variant as early as November this year. The report also confirms a more recent rumor that suggested the foldable handset will sport a 7.3-inch display, though nothing is set in stone yet. Dubbed the Galaxy X, the foldable phone was reportedly patented earlier last year.