According to a new report, competition in the foldable space has Samsung in a panic, and the company is revving up plans to launch a rollable smartphone as soon as next year.
It’s no secret that the foldable competition has heated up dramatically in recent years. In the US alone, Samsung has to deal with the greatly-improved Pixel 9 Pro Fold from Google and the OnePlus Open, the foldable so good that it didn’t need a sequel to take a victory lap, all while the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 seem to be struggling to gain traction. And, internationally, the outlook is even tougher. Samsung’s competition is pushing the boundaries on foldable hardware, with one key example being the insanely-thin Honor Magic V3.
In the face of all of that, Samsung is apparently taking another look at its playbook, The Elec reports.
Samsung is reportedly planning to launch a rollable smartphone sometime in 2025. This comes as a response to Samsung losing the race for the first “tri-fold” smartphone to Huawei, as the Chinese company launched the Mate XT earlier this month with an impressive form factor and a huge display.
A rollable smartphone from Samsung would apparently have a larger screen than the Mate XT, up to 12.4-inches in size, and would hide a camera underneath that display. Much of what Samsung’s hardware would look like is still a mystery, but if the company manages to bring a rollable to market, it would be the first to do so. Before it shut down its mobile division in 2021, LG was close to launching a rollable device, with the hardware essentially ready for launch prior to that decision as later leaks revealed.
The report goes on to mention that sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 are “disappointing” and “short of expectations.” It’s not quite as bad as a rumor from last month that claimed Samsung’s sales of the larger foldable were under 300,000 globally, but the data here suggests Samsung’s pre-sale totals in South Korea totaled just over 900,000 units, down over 100,000 from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5.
A rollable phone from Samsung is reportedly coming as soon as the second half of 2025.
More on Samsung:
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