Samsung has long been rumored to be working on a dual-display smartphone and a new report now claims that it will finally start testing such a prototype by June.
Industry insiders have reportedly dubbed this elusive smartphone as the Galaxy X and it's been rumored for years, yet nothing concrete has ever materialized in this regard.
Nevertheless, it now seems that Samsung is finally ready to start testing the prototype. The company apparently plans to manufacture between 2,000 and 3,000 prototypes of the smartphone by June, people familiar with the matter told The Investor.
Dual-Display Prototype, Foldable Smartphone
The purported Samsung Galaxy X smartphone is rumored to be a high-end handset with two separate OLED panels, foldable up to 180 degrees and connected in the middle by a single hinge. Samsung recently obtained a trademark for "Galaxy X" and the premium smartphone could hit the market soon enough.
The unnamed sources briefed on the matter further told The Investor that the Galaxy X is indeed a fruit of Samsung's mysterious Project Valley, which has been years in the making.
With Project Valley, Samsung ultimately aims to unleash a powerful, premium smartphone with a single flexible panel that can bend and fold. The prototype expected to enter testing soon will serve as a stepping-stone toward that ultimate goal, serving as an intermediate solution for testing purposes until Samsung figures out how to perfect the concept for a final product.
With this in mind, this purported prototype will most likely never see the light of day. The dual-display unit will help Samsung test what works and what doesn't, but it wouldn't make sense for the company to commercialize the prototype.
Samsung Galaxy X Rumors
That said, while earlier rumors speculated that Samsung's Galaxy X premium foldable smartphone would hit the market sometime in the third quarter of this year, it seems unlikely if the latest report is accurate.
If Samsung is only gearing up to start testing the dual-display prototype by June, it wouldn't really have enough time to perfect the concept, decide on the final design, and bring the foldable Galaxy X to market as soon as the third quarter.
A 2018 release would seem more plausible in this context, but it remains to be seen. Leaks and rumors are often hit-and-miss and there's no guarantee that the latest scoop from The Investor is accurate.
The Samsung Galaxy X has been rumored for so long that it's almost starting to seem like a mythical beast, never seen but frequently talked about. Even so, industry sources still think that Samsung will eventually release a foldable smartphone, albeit it's still a good while away from commercializing such a handset.
Lastly, this purported foldable smartphone is not expected to arrive as a replacement for the flagship Galaxy S series, but rather as an alternative that would co-exist with the flagship to offer more choices for consumers looking for a top-notch smartphone.
Would you be interested in a Samsung smartphone with a foldable screen and high-end specs comparable to those of the premium Galaxy S series?
