Samsung Reportedly Sent Apple And Google Free Folding Display Samples To Drive Adoption

There aren't many manufacturers of smartphone displays in the world, but Samsung Display is one of the biggest suppliers. This display maker of course also cranks out the screens that Samsung uses in its smartphones, including the recently unveiled Galaxy Fold. One of the reasons that the Galaxy Fold smartphone will cost nearly $2,000 is its slick folding screen. It makes sense that Samsung Display would want to ramp-up orders, allowing it to build in larger bulks and reduce prices with the economies of scale.

A new report has surfaced that suggests that Samsung Display is doing just that and also has sent folding screen samples to both Apple and Google. The displays that were allegedly sent to the other smartphone makers are said to measure 7.2-inches, slightly smaller than the 7.3-inch screen that Samsung uses in its folding smartphone. The report claims that Samsung Display sent the screens to Apple and Google on February 27.

Apple tends to sit back and let other smartphone makers break new ground before it jumps in with its own product innovation. That means Apple is often the last company to the party, and likely it will be a while before we see any folding iPhones, despite the patent filing that surfaced recently. As for Google, it would be no surprise to see it launch a folding smartphone sooner rather than later. With the smartphone market slowing across the board for most manufacturers, Google will be keen to do what it can to get Pixel users to upgrade.

The report also claims that Samsung has reached out to Chinese smartphone makers Huawei and Oppo to offer to supply the firms with folding screens for their devices. Huawei already has a folding device unveiled called the Mate X, and it will cost as much as the Samsung Fold. Oppo has a patent for a folding screen device with no notch, but we have yet to see the actual device. Other than the size of the displays, no other tidbits about the samples allegedly sent to Google and Apple are known. We do know that the screen in the Galaxy Fold is a QXGA+ Dynamic OLED screen with an aspect ratio of 4.2:3.

Puns intended, it will be interesting to watch this new technology unfold in future generation products.