Samsung’s foldable phone will be a meaningful one: DJ Koh

When it comes to foldable smartphones, Samsung is the name that comes to the mind initially. Since their demo of a foldable display at CES 2013, the company has been working its best to turn the concept into a reality as fast as possible. Samsung’s biggest rivals have also started their own development work on the bendable display, with Huawei expected to unveil a bendable smartphone before the year ends. While Samsung still hasn’t come up with an exact date for the unveiling yet, they have hinted that this bendable smartphone will be meaningful.

At a recent launch event, Samsung’s CEO for the mobile division DJ Koh said in an interview to CNET that their bendable smartphone won’t offer a gimmicky feature and would rather make a point for itself in the market. He said that a gimmicky product disappears from the market within 6-8 months, which is something Samsung is trying to avoid. “If the user experience is not up to my standard, I don't want to deliver that kind of products,” said Koh.

 

However, Samsung isn’t expecting the foldable smartphone to be a commercial hit in its first outing. "Possibly when we start selling the foldable phone, it may be a niche market, but definitely, it will expand," Koh said. "I'm positive that we do need a foldable phone."

When first Galaxy Note was unveiled, Koh says that the rivals considered the handset to be a useless product, especially with its gigantic screen. However, over the years, those very rivals have adopted larger displays. Similarly, Koh thinks that the foldable smartphone will catch up with the market over a couple of years and will be widely adopted by the competition once consumers start finding the technology useful on a daily basis.