With Huawei revealing its tri-folding display phone – the Mate XT – earlier this month, speculation is growing that its rival, Samsung, may also push forward with all-new display technology for its smartphones.
As far back as 2021, a patent application from Samsung about its rollable phone surfaced. Over the last three years, there have been intermittent leaks about the phone.
Now, new information surfacing about Samsung’s rollable phone on Korean publication TheElec confirms that Samsung could be considering a 2025 launch for the device.
The report notes that the phone will come with a massive 12.4-inch display that can be rolled up. For comparison, the recently released tri-folding phone from Huawei has a 10.2-inch screen.
Samsung’s rollable phone is also rumoured to come with under-display camera technology.
The company’s book-style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold6 already use this technology for one of its selfie cameras.
Apart from a rollable, Samsung was also reported to be working on a tri-folding device, much like Huawei’s latest phone. However, Samsung’s tri-folding device has not yet made it to market.
Meanwhile, Huawei became the world’s first to release a tri-folding device with the Huawei Mate XT. Huawei’s offering folds in a Z shape rather than inward twice and utilizes a portion of the large foldable display as its cover display.
One of the reasons that Samsung is reported not to be focusing on tri-folding phones is because of the high price of manufacturing these devices – Huawei’s latest phone was released with a price tag of around A$4,100. An insider familiar with Samsung’s internal affairs said, “I heard that the Mobile Experience division, which is in charge of devices such as smartphones is recently focusing on cost reduction to increase profitability.”
Another official added, “Samsung Electronics has gone to the extent of cutting costs to the point where it will stop producing mock-up products provided to general mobile phone stores starting this year.”
As for foldable display technology, as ChannelNews has reported, Apple has a design and concept for a new foldable iPhone and a foldable iPad and front and centre of the supply chain is Samsung which has spent the last two months scoping contracts for the supply of components to Apple, according to sources at IFA 2024.
Apple is currently sourcing and costing the manufacture of multiple components including camera sensors and OLED display for the devices which are tipped for release in 2026.
