Samsung unveils world’s first foldable phone: specs, release and price

Samsung has unveiled the world’s first foldable smartphone, following years of rumours and design prototypes.

Revealed at the Korean tech giant’s annual developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, the smartphone is equipped with Samsung’s new Infinity Flex Display, which can be placed flat on surfaces or bent in half to fit into the user’s pocket, The Independent reports.

When unfolded, the prototype smartphone’s screen measures in at 7.3in diagonally, but when folded shrinks to 4.5in, CNet reports. To put that into perspective, the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S9 measures in at 5.8in.

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Samsung has revealed few details about the smartphone’s specs but admits that the screen can be made from different materials - suggesting other manufacturers could build their own folding device.

Speaking to the BBC, Marta Pinto of market research firm IDC said the move to bendable phones should help Samsung fight back against the growing competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei.

“We’ve already had squeezable, swivel, clamshell and even foldable phones,” she said. “If [Samsung] can bring a new and really interesting device to the market, it could be a chance to regain momentum and return to growth.”

However, US-based software developer Joshua Clark told The Guardian that Samsung needs other manufacturers to adopt flexible screens for the technology to become mainstream.

“I really think it only takes two companies, and then all of the sudden it will catch on,” he said.

Price and release date

Samsung says its bendable smartphone will enter production within months, before arriving on store shelves in early 2019.

Although pricing wasn’t announced during the San Francisco event, tech site T3 predicts that the foldable smartphone “is going to be a very expensive gadget”.

The current mooted price tag is around £1,365 - significantly more than Samsung’s £899 flagship Galaxy Note 9 smartphone.