Changing tack: Samsung to reveal some features of foldable phone this week

SEOUL (Nov 6): Keen to make it's foldable smartphone the next big thing, Samsung Electronics Co will be keeping a tight grip on this issue.

The goal is garnering critical feedback as new technologies will require developers to tweak apps to make sure they run smoothly when the phone folds out into tablet form.

Samsung needs to get the foldable phone right – hoping it will reverse its declines in profit for its mobile division and restore some of the premium stamp its brand has lost to Apple Inc.

The move also underscores a new level of warranty in product planning after a costly recall for its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 in 2016.

"Unlike our flagship products, the former is a completely new concept, which requires a different approach," said Samsung.

"Before we take it to the market, we want to share with developers what we do so far and see what they think of it," the official said.

Foldable phones hold the promise of being more complex than that of a tablet or laptop.

The South Korean tech giant is a handful of firms that will soon be coming soon. Although it was so far to be exact, analysts expect a launch date in the first half of 2019 – any later and Samsung would run the risk of new Apple phones stealing its thunder.

China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has also said it is planning to launch a smartphone with a foldable screen in mid-2019.

Both, however, have been pipped to the post by Royole, a Chinese display making start-up, which last week has a 7.8 inch screen, priced from around US $ 1,300. It is said that it will start filling orders from late December.

Lee Kyeong-tae, Samsung vice president for mobile communication, said last week the phone's user interface will be unveiled at an annual conference for San Francisco on Wednesday.

Another Samsung official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters It will be the first time that detailed images of the new phone will be presented in public.

Expectations that the phone itself will be displayed, however, low.

High price tags are expected to become available soon, and some analysts even doubt there is huge appetite for such a product.

But if Samsung can create some buzz around the new phones, it would be a welcome salvation for its mobile division, which just last week reported quarterly profit tumbling by a third, squeezed by competition with Apple and Chinese rivals spruce up their mid-range Samsung's products with features similar to

Research firm Strategy Analytics forecast in May global sales of 1.2 million foldable phones next year so should be about 64.9 million phones in 2023. That would, however, account for just 3.5% of global smartphone sales.

"First, Samsung needs to show foldable smartphones are commercially viable." If they become established instead of flagship product line-ups like the S-series and Note-series, then foldables might help turn the company's underperforming mobile business, "said Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment & Securities.

(US $ 1 = 1,120,7000 won)