Samsung's Folding Smartphone May Carry A Hefty Price Tag Due To Limited Display Material Suppliers

Samsung has been having a tough time finding the right mix of features and cool design for its smartphones in recent months. The company has been accused of peddling products that look too much like previous versions with minimal updates, which in turn has led to soft sales for key products like the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. However, one of the Samsung devices that fans are very much looking forward to is the rumored folding screen smartphone spied in renderings in the past.

A new rumor is floating around claims that Samsung is unwilling to mass produce the folding screen smartphone, currently being referred to as the Galaxy F, and the price will be high thanks to that decision. Mass production is one of the few ways that manufacturers can push pricing down to reasonable levels by leveraging economies of scale. The key component of the folding screen device is the folding display itself.

Samsung allegedly chose a supplier called Sumitomo Chemical from Japan to produce the polyimide transparent plastic film, a flexible and durable clear adhesive, Samsung developed for the smartphone. Samsung went with Sumitomo Chemical for production instead of a much larger Korean supplier, Kolon Industries, because Sumitomo could meet small supply orders; Kolon Industries focuses on mass-market orders. With the buzz surrounding the folding screen device, it would be easy to assume Samsung would want to target the mass market, but its choice of supplier for the screen says otherwise.

Since Samsung has chosen to produce the smartphone in small quantities, the price of the device will no doubt skyrocket. Rumors claim that the Galaxy F will enter the market at $2,000 per unit, a price many consumers will find hard to swallow. Samsung certainly seems to subscribe to Tim Cook's assertion that innovation is expensive. Samsung's mobile chief has promised the device will debut by year's end.

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