Here's Why You Need a Foldable Phone, According to Samsung

Samsung is said to be planning to finally unveil its foldable phone on Feb. 20. And now, the company's senior vice president and head of its visual R&D team Hark-sang Kim is making the case for buying one.

Royole's Flexpai. Credit: Tom's Guide

(Image credit: Royole's Flexpai. Credit: Tom's Guide)

In a post on Samsung's website, Kim argues that the future of smartphones and smartphone design is in larger displays. He believes that in order to take full advantage of artificial intelligence, 5G, augmented reality, and other up and coming technologies, a larger screen is a requirement.

Realizing that, Kim wrote, Samsung had a choice. It needed to find a way to build a smartphone with a big-enough screen to take advantage of future technologies without sacrificing quality of making it too difficult to carry around.

"Instead of accepting the status quo, resolving the contradiction between screen size and portability and developing a new form factor became the central focus of our innovation efforts," Kim wrote.

Samsung actually unveiled plans for a foldable smartphone all the way back at CES 2011. Since then, the development went underground and its progress has been kept under wraps. At Samsung's Developer Conference in November, the company showcased its Infinity Flex Display, which will be used in its upcoming Galaxy F. However, it stopped short of showing an actual design.

The Infinity Flex Display is a foldable handset that, when closed, is about the size of a standard smartphone. But when it's open and the screen fully stretched out, it's the size of a tablet. 

MORE: Samsung Galaxy F Rumors: Foldable Phone Release Date, Specs and More

Of course, Samsung isn't the only company working on a foldable phone. Huawei, LG, and others are also working on a handset that could come with the unique design. But Samsung's Galaxy F is arguably the most sought-after, given the sheer number of rumors surrounding it for so long.

Kim wrote that Samsung's new foldable comes with an all-new "material that completely changes the anatomy of the smartphone display." He added that the screen can be folded "hundreds of thousands" of times, but the company had to "rethink the placements of the battery, cooling system, and camera so that they can be placed inside the slim body efficiently." Samsung also needed to build a new software experience to accommodate the screen.

Kim didn't say when the handset would launch or what it would look like, but all signs are now pointing to it being unveiled alongside the Galaxy S10 on Feb. 20. But it might only be the beginning, if Kim can be believed.

"We expect to see a sea change in the smartphone form factor in the coming years," Kim wrote. "From rollable and stretchable devices to the devices that can fold in multiple ways are no longer beyond the realms of reality."

TOPICS

Don Reisinger is CEO and founder of D2 Tech Agency. A communications strategist, consultant, and copywriter, Don has also written for many leading technology and business publications including CNET, Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, Forbes, Computerworld, Digital Trends, TechCrunch and Slashgear. He has also written for Tom's Guide for many years, contributing hundreds of articles on everything from phones to games to streaming and smart home.

Latest in Samsung Phones
Amazon Spring Sale Galaxy S25
Amazon’s Spring Sale drops the Samsung Galaxy S25 to $734 — its lowest price ever!
Galaxy S25 Plus held in the hand.
Samsung could delay One UI 7’s release in the US — here’s what we know
Galaxy S25 Ultra Now brief
Samsung’s Personal Data Engine is a big addition to the Galaxy S25 — here’s why
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge next to Galaxy S25 Plus
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs. Galaxy S25 Plus: Everything we know so far
Showing the front of a Galaxy S25 Ultra held in hand
One UI 7 will arrive late for US Samsung users — here’s when it’ll launch for you
samsung galaxy s25 edge mockup at galaxy unpacked
Galaxy S25 Edge is overhyped — I want Samsung to make this phone thinner instead
Latest in News
nyc spring day AI image
OpenAI just unveiled new ChatGPT image generator powered by Sora — here's what you can do now
WWDC logo on yellow background
Apple WWDC 2025 date set for June 9 — iOS 19, Apple Intelligence and more expected
Motorola Razr Plus 2024 cover display
Motorola Razr Plus (2025) leaked specs hint at bigger upgrades — here's what we know
(L-R) Yura Borisov as Igor, Mark Eydelshteyn as Vanya, Karren Karagulian as Toros and Mikey Madison as Anora "Ani" Mikheeva in "Anora"
Hulu top 10 movies — here's what you need to stream right now
Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch 2 — industry insider just tipped release month and launch plans
Disney Plus logo
Disney Plus upgrade just fixed one of my biggest problems with the home page