SAMSUNG GIVES A FIRST GLIMPSE OF ITS FOLDABLE SMARTPHONE

After months of anticipation, Samsung has unveiled its much-awaited foldable phone. They have also urged Android developers to start developing apps for the new device.

The Korean tech giant needs to get the foldable smartphone right to reverse the steep decline of profits for its mobile division, and restore its lost cachet to Apple. Foldable phones promise the screen of a small tablet in a pocket-sized device.

At the unveiling in San Francisco, Justin Denison, a senior vice president of mobile product marketing, showed a prototype with a screen he said measured 18.5cm (7.3in) diagonally. Folded in two it appeared to resemble a thick phone, but Samsung did not give media or developers a chance to touch or see the device up close.

Samsung's foldable display in action! pic.twitter.com/9yXAZk8JxG

— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) November 7, 2018

Samsung announces the Infinity Flex Display and the #Foldable Smartphone #SDC18 pic.twitter.com/p6BOnW6ASi

— Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) November 7, 2018

Samsung has also confirmed that it would be ready for mass production of the device in the coming months.

Bob ODonnell, an analyst with Technalysis Research, said that while the bendable screen provided a wow factor, shoppers may not like the thickness of the folded phone or its price tag.