Samsung’s folding phone has been the most interesting mystery in smartphone country for a while now. Earlier in the rumor mill was thrown that the Samsung X as the device would be called, in 2019 for a not sickly 1500 dollars would come true. Now, however, Samsung CEO DJ Koh told CNBC that the Korean company is planning to show the device at its own SDC development conference. It starts on November 7 in San Francisco.
What is the added value?
Koh told during the IFA last week that it should be clear what consumers had on a foldable phone, so that it would not become a ‘because it could’ product. “You can do most things with the device when it is folded, but if you want to browse or view something, you probably have to unfold it, but what’s the real benefit to a tablet?” If that experience is exactly the same, Why would consumers buy it? Every innovation must have a clear message for our customers, so they use it and think ‘wow, that’s why Samsung made it!’
Hopefully Samsung can answer the ‘what do I have here?’ – question satisfactory, but until then it is especially interesting how they did it. A screen that folds in half and is unfolded looks like it is a whole is a technological piece of art and the question is whether that is really achieved of course. Koh says that the development process is ‘complicated’ but that Samsung is almost there. Exactly on time too, because Samsung does not experience her best time. With a decrease of 20 percent in sales, it feels the hot breath of emerging parties like Huawei in the neck and they have to do something to differentiate themselves. If that does not work with a foldable phone, then we do not know it anymore.