Samsung may launch a foldable-screen smartphone in early 2019: Report

A smartphone with a foldable display from Samsung could be in the offing by early 2019. The Wall Street Journal reported that the phone might have a  foldable 7-inch display. It is expected that this might give a boost to Samsung's dull handset business.Internally codenamed "Winner", the display entails a 7-inch screen which is similar to the size of a tablet. On folding the phone, one side of the exterior shows a display bar and the other side is the camera setup.[caption id="attachment_4485423" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Representational image. Reuters[/caption]In the past, many have tried to make this a reality, however, the technology is yet to enter the mainstream market. This phone is touted to be not like the old flip phones, nor is it like two screens placed side by side, rather when you open the phone, an all screen display appears. It serves the purpose of both a tablet and a phone also which can be carried in a purse.The report predicts that the foldable phone will initially attract only a niche audience such as gamers and might take sometime to find acceptance in the mainstream market. It must be noted that the phone can be expensive thanks to the technology used. For a foldable screen, an OLED display is required which anyways escalates the price of a phone. Secondly, one screen will have a display bar on the outside and inside as well, which might require a lot of power. Hence, both the battery and chipset have to be of a higher performance. Thereby, increasing the cost of the smartphone.The Wall Street Journal spoke to people from the industry who have speculated that the phone could be priced at $1,500 which is roughly a lakh in the Indian market.