Samsung will produce more than a million foldable phones

Samsung Electronics will produce more than one million units in initial stock for its next foldable phone, its mobile boss announced.

The South Korean tech giant can not yet announce launch date, DJ Koh, head of Samsung's mobile business, said at a press conference for South Korean journalists on the sidelines of the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in San Francisco, but it will "definitely launch" in the first half of next year.

Previously, Samsung had teased its foldable screen, called Infinity Flex, during a demonstration at the SDC. It will have a 4.85-inch screen that users will watch once folded and a 7.3-inch main screen if they are unfolded like a tablet.

"Given Samsung Electronics' production capacity, we are producing at least one million units for a flagship product," said Koh. "For the foldable phone, the initial stock will be over a million units and if the market reaction is positive, we can produce more."

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"Our demonstration of exposure to the SDC shows that it is ready for commercial deployment and we have overcome many obstacles," he added.

Koh said that he had met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai two months ago, and had formed his working group with the US firm that will focus on the foldable phone's UX.

Like the Galaxy S series and Galaxy Note, the foldable series will be launched every year, said Koh. The phone, however, will be launched in selected markets, such as the United States and South Korea, primarily for a limited number of telecom operators. The foldable phone has no official name yet, he added.

"We do not think that a foldable phone will completely reorganize the conventional smart phone factor," he said. "The rollable and expandable display products will also be disruptive and we are also studying this area."

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