Samsung wants to sell a Galaxy Note 2018 with a foldable screen

Samsung wants to bring a touch smartphone with a screen on the market, which will double next year. This may be the first to offer such innovations.

Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung's mobile phone business, said the company is preparing to launch a smartphone with its OLED display technology, but said that there are several obstacles to overcome and leave room for the release. If these problems are not solved

Koh said, "As head of the company, I can say that our current goal is next year, if we can overcome some problems, we will introduce the product."

Analysts said mass production of a folding phone with advanced features and a slim body will take time. Koh did not specify what the consumerization problems of the Faltschirmtechnologie were.

When Samsung launched its first folding phone, formerly called "Galaxy X", this has been a market issue since Samsung launched a flexible prototype called Youm in 2013. For at least two years there have been rumors that Samsung is about to show its first folding smartphones.

South Korean rival LG obtained patents for a folding tray and at the beginning of the year introduced a conceptual camera that could be used to make a device in the form of a phone or create a much larger tablet. Chinese rival Lenovo showed a similar 7.8-inch tablet, the Folio, which becomes a device with a 5.5-inch screen. But neither LG nor Lenovo have publicly set a deadline for consumers to make a collapsible product available.

Samsung has used its folding screen technology on a variety of smartphones and TVs to create curved screens for its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices, as well as curved televisions. He also sold a large 78-inch TV that he could convert from flat to flat and vice versa by folding the screen around the edges.

The idea of a device that can be both a tablet and a smartphone, changing its shape to better serve the user at different times, has been the holy grail of technology for years. Although the technology of the screens has been operating for some years, at least in the form of prototypes, the durability of the screens and the rigidity of the other necessary components have prevented the return of the concept to the market.

Analysts are skeptical that the technology can be perfected in a short time, but science fiction, including the recent HBO series Westworld, has shown how the concept could work if the technology were refined.