Samsung to provide preview of foldable phone in November

Seen is a concept image for Samsung Electronics' foldable smartphone. / Captured from GSMArena

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics may provide a sneak preview of its upcoming foldable phone, an official from the tech giant said Tuesday.

"We may provide partial information of the foldable phone at the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in November, but the finished product won't be available there," a Samsung official said.

This year's SDC event will be held in San Francisco for two days on Nov. 7 and 8. The company previously announced it will deliver on its strategies about its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Bixby and internet of things (IoT) products.

Taking it as a new growth engine for the sluggish smartphone business, Samsung has been developing a new kind of smartphone that can be folded. The foldable phone will have a 7-inch OLED screen unfolded and be about 4.5 inches folded, according to industry watchers.

Previously, Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's IT & Mobile Communications division, said the company will unveil the world's first foldable phone within this year. In August, he told reporters he will not let other phone makers get the chance to become the world's first company to introduce a foldable smartphone.

After his remark, there has been growing expectations that Samsung will make its first foldable phone public at the upcoming SDC event. Samsung was expected to announce its foldable phone early next year, but the company is said to have moved up the date as Chinese competitors such as Huawei and ZTE are speeding up their efforts to release their own foldable phones.

Samsung Display, which has provided display panels for Samsung Electronics' premium smartphones, said the company has no official comments on the phone.

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