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The recent collapsible phone from Samsung (SSNLF) was the equivalent in the smartphone industry of a teaser trailer.
The Korean technology and electronics giant has shared enough on the phone and its "Infinity Flex" screen to excite and intrigue techies and gadget enthusiasts. At the same time, he has allowed observers to make informed badumptions about some key details about Samsung's plans to market foldable phones, and to speculate on others.
Add the fact that some of the details that were Both people suggest that Samsung's first collapsible phone is more likely to be a niche product than a phenomenal success, and one should not rely on the phone to upset the industry in 2019, even though its Underlying technology clearly has long-term potential. .
Samsung's prototype and rivals up to
With subdued light not to reveal too much, Samsung CEO Justin Denison briefly introduced a collapsible phone prototype at his company's annual mobile developer conference on Wednesday. The device features a 4.58-inch "cover screen" used when it's closed, as well as a 7.3-inch Infinity Flex display that s & rsquo; lights when the phone is open.
Denison said that Samsung would be ready to launch mbad production of the Infinity Flex screen coated with a composite polymer rather than glbad in order to fold without breaking, in a few months. However, no date has been given for the moment when a collapsible phone containing the display will be launched.
Samsung is far from the only handset maker to show interest in launching foldable phones. The Chinese Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo have all done to varying degrees, Huawei apparently seeking to launch a device next year. The Chinese phone brand Royole recently launched a foldable phone called FlexPai. However, its software, performance and form factor apparently leave much to be desired.
Apple, meanwhile, filed a patent application for a device with a flexible screen, and it was reported that last year was exploring the concept of a collapsible iPhone.
As flexible OLED panels need to develop folding displays, OLED materials and Universal Display (OLED), the company that licenses patents, will benefit from their adoption.
Why folding phones could finally take off
Since Samsung's Infinity Flex screen has a 4.2: 3 aspect ratio – close to the aspect ratio of 4: 3 at which photos are usually taken – its diagonal display size does not do justice to his size. on phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (6.4-inch diagonal display size) or the Apple iPhone XS Max (AAPL) (6.5-inch), which the proportions are north of 2: 1. And the same goes for the size of rival folding phone screens.
Applications that can use the extra screen are available to everyone from games to web browsing, to viewing / editing photos and documents. The multitaches could also make good use of it; Samsung says that the main screen can support up to three windows of applications.
Since Apple's launch of its original 3.5-inch iPhone in 2007, consumers' desire to have additional screen space for smartphones is a constant in the world. ;industry. Hence the creation of longer phones with large aspect ratios, the deployment of side-by-side displays and the removal of the home button.
In many ways, folding screens are the next logical step in this trend. And with the current decline in smartphone sales, major OEMs are strongly urged to ensure that large-scale adoption of foldable phones is done as soon as possible.
Why could it take time
While consumers want a lot of screen, they also want slim and lightweight phones. And the phone prototype that Samsung briefly showed is rather bulky when it's closed.
In addition, while many high-end phone buyers have expressed a preference for large screens, they also tend to be concerned about the picture quality provided by these screens. It should be noted that Samsung's main and cover screens have a relatively low pixel density of 420 pixels per inch (dpi). Most new high-end Android phones, including the Galaxy S9 and Note 9, have a density greater than 500 dpi. In addition, Samsung says that to create a thinner screen, it has reduced the thickness of a polarizing layer on the main screen, which reduces glare by 45%.
We still do not know what will be the battery life of Samsung's first collapsible phone, nor its expected retail price (there is a good chance it's not cheap). And while Alphabet / Google (GOOGL) is striving to make the phone foldable on Android, it will take some time for Android apps and the popular apps that run on it to properly support the format.
If the form factor and battery life issues can be solved, foldable phones have a very good chance of becoming very popular in the long run. However, as is the case with so many new technologies, "mainstream" consumers will probably benefit from transmitting first-generation foldable phones that will soon be deployed and waiting for devices with hardware and software. more sophisticated software.
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