For months, we’ve been hearing fairly frequent rumours about the Samsung Galaxy X, a smartphone that will feature a folding display. The idea is that you’ll be able to use it as a smartphone, and then fold it out to full tablet size, creating a whole new mobile segment that mirrors the tablet-laptop 2-in-1 hybrids we’ve already seen from the computing industry.
But the bad news is that Samsung’s quirky folding phone might be tough to bag, with Forbes’ Ewan Spence suggesting that “the expectation for the Galaxy X is as a limited-run device in a single territory – more than likely the home territory of South Korea”.
In a lengthy report detailing the prospects of the Galaxy X smartphone, Spence argues that the phone will “become one of the rarest” Android handsets in 2018, and that customers will need “the quickness of a falcon and the cunning of a fox” to bag one, due to the possibility of a limited release.
“That follows the pattern of the first curved screen display on a Samsung device, with 2014’s Note Edges available in South Korea and India, but not making a worldwide release,” he writes.
Spence continues: “No matter when Samsung decides to reveal the X, the chances are it’s going to be a collector’s item before it hits retail shelves. If you want a piece of the next-generation of display technology, you’ll have to be fast.”
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a limited release for the Galaxy X; Samsung often uses select-market releases to trial new technology. If folding phones turn out to be a success, Samsung would then have cause to instigate a wider release – with the possibility of the UK being included.
Most rumours – and Spence’s report – suggest that the Galaxy X will initially debut to press early next year, at either CES 2018 in January or MWC 2018 in February. However, Samsung hasn’t confirmed any such plans, so take all leaks with due caution until then.
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