Samsung will start mass producing its long-rumoured foldable smartphone – provisionally dubbed the Galaxy X – in November 2018, according to a new report by Chinese site ET News.
The outlet says that Sammy will finalise the handset’s design in March and begin manufacturing its flexible 7.3-inch edge-to-edge screen.
Now, most of what we’ve heard about the Galaxy X originates from frivolous rumours and precautionary patents, all claiming that the unit will be equipped with a flexible display that can unfold to form a medium-sized tablet – but we won’t know whether that’s the case until the firm’s ready to give us a peek at what it’s been working on.
There’s a chance that could happen sooner rather than later though, with ET News hinting that Samsung is hosting a private gathering at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week to discuss the foldable revolution and gauge market response to the designs it’s toying with for the Galaxy X.
Related: CES 2018 live
If Samsung sticks to these speculative manufacturing deadlines, there’s a chance it could announce the foldable handset as soon as December this year – though we reckon that given the hype that’s likely to surround the device (and the fact that a month isn’t an especially long time on the production line), an early-2019 reveal, possibly at Mobile World Congress, is more likely.
However, while the South Korean chaebol has used such events to take the wraps off experimental smartphones in the past – here’s looking at you, Galaxy Round – Samsung mobile chief Koh Dong-jin has poured lukewarm water on recent Galaxy X rumours, recently telling the Korea Herald: “It is difficult to talk about the date of the launch now. We want to unveil the products properly but now seems a bit early…there are still durability issues that we need to address.”
What would you like to see from the Samsung Galaxy X? Let us know over on Facebook or Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
