Samsung's Folding Smartphone Will Be Released!

A few hours before the official release of the iPhone 8, Samsung again stole the show when Samsung CEO Dongjin Koh held a press conference in South Korea about the record pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8 in South Korea and also the possibility of Samsung releasing a foldable smartphone in the near future.

Many speculate that Samsung is trying to grab the world’s attention, which is currently focused on the release of the iPhone 8 which will be held in the next few hours. Especially with the leaked news about the iPhone X, which is rumored to be coming with a super large OLED screen equipped with facial recognition.

Samsung’s Big Step

Although Apple has been trying to catch up with Samsung in terms of smartphone design and features for its smartphones, it looks like the South Korean smartphone manufacturer has an ambitious road map in terms of technology.

As reported by the Korea Heral page, Koh said Samsung already has a clear roadmap for innovation for its smartphones in the future. One of the plans in the roadmap is a folding smartphone.

“We have plans to adapt foldable displays in our roadmap. We (Samsung) are currently tackling several technological challenges to actually realize such a device (folding smartphone),” said Koh.

“We will release a foldable smartphone when we are really ready in terms of technology and design and we plan to release the smartphone next year,” he added.

The technological barrier that Koh is referring to may refer to the mass production of flexible and tough plastic films that will later be used for their smartphone foldable screens. Called Polyimide Film, this material is rumored to be produced by a supplier from Korea, namely Kolon Industries. Based on a report quoted from the Android Authority page, Kolon Industries is reportedly unable to mass produce the material until January 2021. Samsung is predicted to need two or three months to produce a folding smartphone, so a wild guess for the official launch of a foldable smartphone from Samsung is predicted to occur as early as the first quarter. 2021.

Galaxy X

Samsung has long been rumored to be releasing a folding smartphone which is currently tentatively called the Galaxy X. However, this direct confirmation from Samsung’s CEO seems to answer the public’s curiosity about the possibility of a foldable smartphone by Samsung. In fact, this indirectly shows that Samsung has found the ‘answer’ on how to produce a folding smartphone.

Previously, it was rumored that the Galaxy X would be a separate smartphone series following the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series. However, Koh stated that Samsung’s foldable smartphone will later be included in one or both of Samsung’s flagship series. This means that the public will soon be able to see foldable smartphones for the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series.

Galaxy Note 8 Record Pre-Order

In addition to boasting about Samsung’s plans to release a foldable smartphone next year, Koh also announced a record pre-order for the Galaxy Note 8 that exceeded expectations, especially after the case of the Note 7 explosion last year. Koh stated that today (12/9/2021) there are 650,000 Note 8 pre-orders in South Korea alone and it is predicted that this number will continue to rise to 800,000 on September 15, 2021 when this smartphone is sold to the market. This amount is more than double the pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 5.

Meanwhile, pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8 have also been opened in Indonesia. However, Samsung Indonesia still doesn’t want to reveal the exact number of Note 8 pre-orders to date. However, if you look at the galaxylaunchpack.com site, several productivity packages have been sold out which indicates the large interest of gadget users in Indonesia to buy this smartphone.

Keep up with KabarGames to find out more about Samsung’s foldable smartphone as well as news about the iPhone 8 launch which will take place today, Tuesday (12/9/2021) at 10 am American time or 12 pm in Indonesia (13/9/2021).

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