Samsung is working on a tri-fold phone that could be launched next year, according to a report. The South Korean tech conglomerate will have to catch up to rival Huawei, after the launch of the Mate XT Ultimate Edition in China with a CNY 19,999 (roughly Rs. 2,37,000) price tag. Other smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo are also tipped to be working on their own smartphones with tri-fold displays that can be expanded to form a much bigger screen.
Samsung Reportedly Working on Smartphone With Tri-Fold Display
A ZDNet Korea report (in Korean) citing industry sources states that Samsung Electronics is considering the release of an entry-level clamshell-style foldable phone, as well as a “tri-fold model that can fold the screen twice” — both these phones could be released by the company in 2025.
The publication cites a source who claims that commercialisation plans and development of the tri-fold model’s components have already been completed by Samsung Display’s partners. However, the decision to launch the product lies with the head of Samsung Electronics’ MX division, the source added.
Orders for OLED displays used in foldable phones have dropped by 10 percent year on year, according to the report, due to lower-than-expected demand for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 models that were launched by the company earlier this year. As a result, Samsung has reportedly lowered the “rolling plan” (R/P) of OLED panels due to the decreased demand.
This is not the first time that Samsung is said to be planning the launch of a tri-fold smartphone. In March 2023, a tipster claimed that Samsung was not planning to unveil the Galaxy S23 FE — that phone was eventually launched in October 2023 — and would instead introduce a smartphone with a triple folding display. This smartphone could eventually make its debut in 2025.
Samsung has previously shown off prototypes of two smartphones dubbed Flex G and Flex S, with different folding mechanisms. While these designs are yet to make their way to consumers, they resemble the Mate XT Ultimate from Huawei, as well as the Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2 tri-fold smartphone concept that was unveiled in August.
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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More