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​Samsung to produce over one million foldable phones

Samsung will make over one million units for its upcoming foldable phone in initial stock and it will be launched within the first half of 2019, the firm's mobile boss says. He also met Google CEO Sundar Pichai two months ago and formed a taskforce for foldable phone's UX.
Written by Cho Mu-Hyun, Contributing Writer

Samsung Electronics will produce over one million units in initial stock for its upcoming foldable phone, says its mobile boss.

The South Korean tech giant cannot yet announce a launch date, DJ Koh, who heads Samsung's mobile business, said, in a press conference for South Korean journalists at the sidelines of Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in San Francisco, but it will "definitely launch" in the first half of next year.

Earlier, Samsung teased its foldable display, called Infinity Flex, in a demo at SDC. It will have a 4.85-inch cover display that users will be looking at when folded, and a 7.3-inch main display when unfolded like a tablet.

"Given Samsung Electronics' product capacity, for a flagship product we produce a minimum of one million units," Koh said. "For the foldable phone, initial stock will be over one million units and if the market reaction is positive, we can produce more."

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"Our demonstration of the display at SDC shows that it is ready for commercial deployment. We overcame many obstacles," he added.

Koh said he met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai two months ago and formed its taskforce with the US firm that will focus on the foldable phone's UX.

Like the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series, the foldable series will be launched every year, Koh said. The phone, however, will be launched in selected markets such as the US and South Korea first for limited number of telecommunication carriers. The foldable phone doesn't have an official name yet, he added.

"We do not believe that foldable phone will completely overhaul the conventional smartphone phone factor," he said. "Rollable and stretchable display products will also be disruptive and we are researching those area as well."

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(Image: Angela Lang/CNET)
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