The rivalry between Apple and Samsung could be more ferocious than some might have imagined. Case in point: just before the official announcement of Apple’s anniversary iPhone, the iPhone X and the next-generation iPhone, the iPhone 8, Samsung made an official statement in South Korea of its intention to continue pursuing foldable display smartphones. Until now, foldable display device is to smartphone like flying cars to personal transportation. There are talks about it and even concept made, but never realized. That being said, the concept of foldable phone, particularly one that has a foldable display, is not the newest news.
Samsung had, back in 2014, flaunted a Flexible OLED display phone and tab hybrid that was foldable. It wasn’t perfect, but it was no less impressive. It was enough to set our imagination running wild. Now, the South Korea handset maker have reportedly told Associated Press that it has set its sight on releasing a phone with bendable display as soon as 2018. Not surprisingly, the phone will be a flagship which will fall under the Galaxy Note umbrella. However, Samsung’s President, DJ Koh has admitted that they would have release the revolutionary phone earlier if not for “hurdles” it (the device) would have to overcome.
He also stated that the release, though hopefully to be in 2018, would be pushed back if those hurdles are not resolved in time. Having said that, he fell short of detailing what hurdles the company possibly could have stumbled upon. Anyways, the idea is, it will be a mass market product and not some one-off thing to raise the company’s profile in this fiercely vied industry, but rest assure that foldable display is in Samsung’s roadmap. It is worthy to note, though, the 2014 demonstration wasn’t the first from Samsung. The electronics giant’s ambitious plan to develop a bendable display dated back as far back as 2012 where it revealed a bendable AMOLED display prototype codenamed Youm, but things only get serious last year when it filed for a patent for a foldable display phone.
Also, Samsung isn’t the only company exploring this rather audacious endeavor. Lenovo is also into it too, having shown off prototype devices in recent years. Personally, I am not a fan of Samsung, but I do admire Samsung’s willingness to lead the charge in innovations. Apple, on the other hand, wasn’t like it was during Steve Jobs era. It is hard for an Apple products user like me to admit that the Cupertino tech giant lack innovations. It is in dire need for innovations. To be fair, Apple is not entirely without innovations. Touchbar on the MacBook Pro, for example, is the company show of braving the unknown. But when it comes to phones, they seem to be picking up tech that has already been around for years. It is like the folks in Cupertino never get any light bulb moments, ever.
Granted, they are fairly quick in jumping onto the bezel-less display bandwagon, albeit it is only available on the anniversary device, iPhone X. Still, it was not a tech idea founded by the company. Innovation is sign of progress and without it, there’s really nothing to look forward to in gadgets like smartphones and tablets. Moving forward, I will be looking forward to more groundbreaking innovations in 2018 and we certainly hope Apple can get back to its root of being a real innovator than a company perfecting existing tech.
via The Verge.
