According to Samsung’s vision, mobile devices of the future should be able to fold, bend, and slide. At CES, the business showcased some of its newest display design advancements, like the slidable and foldable Flex Hybrid, to illustrate this point.
The new concept’s slidable and foldable architecture allows it to move between 10.5- and 12.4-inch screen sizes. The screen’s right side slides while the left side folds. The prototype can alter the screen’s size in addition to switching between 4:3 and 16:10 aspect ratios. Even though the Flex Hybrid is only a concept, it demonstrates that Samsung is looking into the potential design of the following generation of foldable smartphones and tablets.
Samsung detailed its new display concepts in a press statement on January 3, but the firm intends to present the technology this week at CES. There are other mock-ups, including the Flex Hybrid. There is also a digital cockpit idea designed for self-driving cars with a 17-inch slidable display that was shown off in September.
Although concepts like this don’t often convert into actual goods, Samsung’s current product strategy feels the most compatible with the Flex Hybrid. Even though foldable phones only make up a tiny portion of the overall phone market, Samsung’s mobile device range now includes the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. As Samsung holds a market share of more than 88% for foldable smartphones, according to Omdia, the firm has an advantage due to its early entry into the foldable phone industry.
In an August 2017 interview, TM Roh, the chief of Samsung’s mobile experience division, made the claim that the firm is already planning what comes after the Z Fold and Z Flip. That notion is reinforced by the introduction of novel ideas like the Flex Hybrid.
In reference to the display innovations Samsung unveiled at CES last year, he stated, “It’s everything you saw [there] plus more.”
But as foldable phones advance, Samsung will probably encounter additional rivals. Both Motorola and TCL have displayed their own rollable phone prototypes. According to my colleague Sareena Dayaram, Oppo’s Find N2, which the firm unveiled in late 2022, also has a lot of potential due to its lightweight construction.
Samsung does not intend for foldables to take the place of conventional phones, despite its efforts to make them more commonplace in our everyday lives.
In the earlier interview, Roh also stated, “I would not envision either just a bar-type, just a foldable, or just another possible new form factor dominating the market.” But rather, I see many categories existing side by side.
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