Are foldable phones and tablets cool again? It will depend on Samsung, LG, TCL and other device manufacturers.
But after seeing the Samsung Flex Hybrid, which folds and slides, this week at CES 2023, I’m starting to get excited again about cutting-edge technology that hasn’t really caught on yet. While the concept model remained in the hands of a Samsung employee, seeing it for myself renewed my hope for the possibilities we have yet to explore with screens that can fold, bend, slide and roll.
Read more: Check out our CES 2023 live blog, must-see reveals, the most futuristic tech and the wackiest gadgets.
As someone who has used several of these early devices from Samsung, Motorola, Oppo and others, I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed with the appeal of foldables in recent years. The Flex Hybrid and other prototypes from Samsung’s display division may have changed that.
There were sliding ones, foldable ones, and even some devices that used multiple technologies, and any of them could appear in the not-too-distant future. The Flex Hybrid is a foldable tablet that has an extra display that pulls out, with the demo giving an example of watching a football match in full screen on the tablet before pulling out the extra display to see stats and other information.
Other prototype models, such as the Flex S, can be folded multiple times, giving you a smartphone-sized screen when closed and a large tablet when open. It’s something straight out of HBO’s Westworld.
Samsung Display’s Flex S looks like a tablet display straight out of HBO’s Westworld.
David Katzmeier/CNET
The new displays seem to breathe life into the foldable era, which got off to a rocky start with the original Samsung Galaxy Fold, which had well-documented problems in 2019. Follow-up models like the recent Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 showed plenty of promise and panache, but neither hasn’t taken hold, even though they’re pretty excellent devices – we’re talking about 1.1% of the global foldable smartphone market share, according to research firm IDC.
Still, the appeal of foldables is growing among buyers as prices gradually drop and improvements are made, with IDC expecting foldable phone shipments to reach 41.5 million units in 2026, up from 13.5 million units in 2022.
Again, these prototypes aren’t meant to be finished products, but rather demonstrations of technology the company is working on. It is also developed by Samsung Display, which is a different part of Samsung from the Samsung Electronics unit that makes and sells phones, tablets, computers, TVs and other electronic devices (although the two also work together).
Samsung Display is a supplier, and its screens are found in numerous products not made by the South Korean tech giant. So while Samsung is making the screens, it’s very possible that another company will bring some of them to market.
“These are all prototypes, concept devices, obviously,” said John Jacobs, vice president of sales and marketing at Samsung Display. “We’re not going to go out and build millions [of these displays] while we have customers.” Jacobs hopes those customers, from phone or computer companies to automakers looking for screens for their upcoming cars, will see the concepts and be inspired.
“That’s what we want to do here is to help, if you will … activate creativity and imagination.”
The onus is on other companies to take these screens and build working products around them. While Samsung demonstrated the technology at CES, it did not allow media in attendance to pick up and use the prototypes themselves. Instead, the company had employees handling the demonstrations.
But unlike so many products and concepts at CES, Samsung seems ready for these displays to take the next step toward becoming a real product. In fact, Jacobs doesn’t think we’ll have to wait too long.
“I think that [in] 2024, especially reusable devices become much more possible.”
There’s still a lot of work to be done by Samsung and others to get there, but I can’t wait.
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