Web Report

Dubai – There are strong rumours that Samsung might finally unveil its foldable smartphone later this year.

Earlier, it was one of the longest-running rumors in the mobile industry is Samsung’s foldable smartphone.

Samsung is believed to have been developing a smartphone with a screen that can fold and bend — but so far, it has never seen the light of day.

However, according to a report from the Korean news site ETNews, it might finally be unveiled later this year.

A prototype of the device will be launched and given to partners to test and to assess demand from consumers, according to the report. But don’t expect a commercial release in 2017 — only “thousands” of the devices will be made at first, with mass production and a proper launch expected for 2018, the report said.

This backs up an earlier report from The Korea Herald, which suggested the device would be unveiled in the third quarter and said Samsung hoped to “roll out more than 100,000 units.”

A foldable smartphone, in theory, makes a lot of sense. It lets a user double the size of the screen without taking up more space in their pocket — or shrink the size of the device when it’s not being used. It would also provide Samsung with a major selling point to use in its ongoing war with Apple for control of the premium smartphone market.

ETNews reports that Samsung showed an early prototype of the device to some “major mobile network providers” at Mobile World Congress, a big industry conference in Barcelona, earlier this year.