Just as curved edge displays are the next big thing in smartphones, companies are already preparing for what's next. Samsung is widely expected to launch one of the first foldable smartphones and it just received a trademark for the Galaxy X in its home country.
Foldable Smartphones In The Future
Two of the biggest players in the smartphone game are already plotting their next moves, not so much to reinvent the smartphone but to provide a new twist on the device. Just as the dual curved edge displays — which are currently offered on several Samsung devices and are expected to be a major feature of Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 — grow in popularity, so too will foldable smartphones, their makers hope.
While Apple received a patent for a foldable smartphone in November, Samsung has also been rumored to be working on a foldable smartphone for several years and has multiple patents relating to such a device. The company is reportedly planning to introduce the first foldable smartphone, which has been referred to as the Galaxy X.
Galaxy X Foldable Smartphone
Samsung appears to be edging closer to an actual Galaxy X announcement, as the company has just applied for trademarks for the "Galaxy X" name in its home country of South Korea.
It was believed that Samsung originally intended to unveil the Galaxy X at this year's Mobile World Congress but while it didn't show the device to the public, select press and partners got some time with the foldable smartphone behind closed doors and NDAs.
The Samsung Galaxy X is believed to feature a foldable flexible Super AMOLED display that will allow users to fold it over to create a more compact device, according to some reports.
We reported in early February that Samsung was supposedly planning its foldable smartphone production in Q4 2017, with a launch of the device likely taking place in early 2018. The Galaxy X is said to include a 5-inch foldable display that can fold out to 7-inches to transform the handset into a small tablet.
Samsung is reportedly planning to release the Galaxy X in a very short supply of 100,000 devices in order to gauge the public's reaction to the device. This wouldn't be the first time Samsung released a unique device that was a risky move on the company's part.
When Samsung launched the original Galaxy Note in 2010, tech critics slammed the device for being too large for consumers. It featured a 5.3-inch display that many compared to small tablet-size proportions. Consumers proved the critics wrong, the Galaxy Note invented the phablet category, and nowadays, 5.3-inch screens are considered on the small side.
We'll have to wait and see how Samsung moves forward with the Galaxy X, however, there will surely be leaks on the horizon, as the handset is likely Samsung's next big thing.
