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In recent years, the smartphone industry has been looking for a breakthrough to revive a market plagued by a lull in innovation and a slump in sales. A potential catalyst is on the horizon in the form of flexible screens that can be folded in half without breaking.
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Samsung and several of its competitors are preparing to deploy such screens to make the devices more versatile for work and pleasure. Foldable screens could increase the display space to the size of a mini-tablet, but fold like a wallet to return to the size of a regular phone. But there are questions about price and sustainability.
If the new phones meet the ambitions of their makers, they will become a step forward for an industry whose origins can be traced to old Flip phones that consumers once considered cool and practical. Foldable screen phones, on the other hand, will not need hinges because they have a continuous display that can bend.
Seeing how difficult it is to create a durable, flexible display, Samsung first announced plans to build a flip-top phone five years ago. It's not until Wednesday, though, that Samsung has finally given a preview of its work.
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"We live in a world where the size of a screen can only be the size of the device itself," said Justin Denison, senior vice president of mobile product marketing at Samsung. "We have just entered a new dimension."
With the exception of an ephemeral look on a device that he held in his hand, Denison provided little information on the phone. Samsung says that it will be ready to enter the market next year.
Smart phone manufacturers are looking for excitement for consumers because they are replacing phones less often, as newer models are expensive and not unlike their predecessors, except for slightly better cameras and batteries.
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This is the main reason why global smartphone sales have declined from the previous year for four consecutive quarters, according to IDC. Add to that and smartphone sales declined 4% in the 12 months ending in September. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone vendor, reported a 7% drop in shipments over this period, according to IDC's calculations.
But it is unclear whether flexible screen phones will appeal much, especially when flexible devices are expected to cost more than $ 1,000. Royole Corp., a small company in Silicon Valley, hopes to sell the first versions of its FlexPai folding screen phone from $ 1,300 to $ 1,500 when it arrives in the United States – something that will not happen before the year next. For now, it will be available in China from next month, at a price equivalent to about $ 1,300.
Although the idea of a device capable of bending into different forms may seem good, Ramon Llamas, an badyst at IDC, is skeptical as to how practical and sustainable they will be. One of the main questions is whether the quality of the screens will deteriorate as they fold repeatedly. "Will people really want to watch a Netflix show on these devices if there is a crease in the middle?" Said Llamas.
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Royole said his FlexPai can be bent more than 200,000 times without deteriorating.
Other foldable screen phones running Google's Android software should also be available. Huawei confirmed last month that he was working on a phone with a flexible screen. LG Electronics is expected to unveil one at CES in Las Vegas in January. LG has not responded to a request for comment.
"Everyone has thought about the same question:" What is the next step? There is nothing more than a smartphone? Said Bill Liu, CEO of Royole.
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