Samsung's foldable smartphone has been in the news for a long time, but its actual launch has been a mystery. Wall Street Journal finally has some information about the unannounced flagship that will set a new path in the world of smartphone innovation.
Samsung's foldable smartphone, which is internally referred to as "Winner," was initially expected to be launched this year, Samsung CEO Dj Koh had revealed. But later it got pushed to CES 2019 in January and now WSJ sources are hinting at an early 2019 launch in select markets before a wider rollout later in the year.
Samsung's foldable smartphone won't replace one of the existing flagship series, Galaxy S or Galaxy Note for that matter, but an entirely new product category will be dedicated to it, WSJ reported. The concept of a foldable smartphone has been ringing in the ears of consumers for a while now and if the "Winner" smartphone does arrive, it will sport a 7-inch tablet-like full-screen display and fold into a compact smartphone when needed.
This will generate a lot of interest from business users as well as gamers, who will have a large screen real estate for various actions. At the same time, Samsung's foldable smartphone will be targeting a niche crowd.
According to the report, Samsung's foldable smartphone won't come cheap. In fact, if the sources are to be believed, it will be meant only for the affluent crowd. WSJ estimates the foldable smartphone by Samsung to be priced at around $1,500 (around Rs 1,03,200). Even though we've seen smartphones come close to that mark, this will be a new high for premium smartphone buyers.
Some reports had also suggested that the foldable smartphone could go as high as $1,850 (roughly Rs 1,27,300). At this price, it will be hard even for Samsung to convince buyers to go for its foldable smartphone, unless it has an unwavering appeal.
Other features of the Samsung's foldable smartphone are unknown at the moment, but we certainly hope it is better than a recently leaked image showing us the foldable concept of a potential Samsung smartphone.
Samsung fans already have a reason to be disappointed with the Galaxy Note 9 for its lack of innovation in design. The upcoming flagship looks a lot like its predecessor with some improved innards and slight modifications. It is our strong belief, Samsung could go for a major change in the looks department with the Galaxy S10, which is due to be released at MWC 2019.
It remains to be seen if the foldable smartphone manages to steal the limelight from the Galaxy S10 or even the Galaxy Note 10 in 2019. Stay tuned for updates.
