It’s fair to say that Samsung is not on its laurels when it comes to innovative form factors. The company already has two types of foldable phones: the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which comes out in a large tablet, and the Galaxy Z Flip, which folds in half to be more compact. Now, the company has confirmed it will experiment with more unorthodox ways to cram more display into a small space.
Korean site The Elec reports that Samsung Display has announced its plans in the “rollable and slidable” arena. The company’s senior vice president, Choi Kwon-young, reportedly said during the company’s fourth-quarter conference call that Samsung Display will continue with “small to medium-sized displays” this year.
There are two important things to note here. First, the report doesn’t define what it means with rollable or scrollable. It presumably refers to the way the screen is enlarged – either rolled out, as a scroll, or slide out – but you could imagine the results would look about the same as the average consumer.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, you’ll notice that the report refers specifically to Samsung Display – and that part of the company has fingers in many pies. It’s possible that the company’s experiments with roll-up / sliding displays are limited to televisions, rather than being small enough to put in your pocket.
It’s also possible the company is talking about making displays for other companies, but on the phone front, that seems unlikely given Samsung’s eagerness to be the first to get out of the trap with foldable handsets.
With all those caveats covered, there’s good reason to think Samsung is working on a rollable phone. Not only has LG’s (possibly abandoned) rollable handset garnered media attention, but a recently discovered patent shows that Samsung has been considering the practicalities of rollable screens for at least a year.
In the unlikely event that neither LG nor Samsung provide a rollable phone, all hope is not lost. TCL also has a retractable design in the works, which the company has demonstrated at CES. No release date was given, but with LG’s option reportedly costing $ 2,359 (again, assuming it arrives), TCL’s reputation for cheaper devices may appeal to those on a budget.