SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday unveiled a nearly $2,000 folding smartphone in a bid to top the technology of Apple Inc and Chinese rivals and reignite consumer interest amid slumping sales. The Galaxy Fold will go on sale on April 26 and take advantage of new and faster 5G mobile networks. The device looks similar to a conventional smartphone, but then opens like a book to reveal a display the size of a small tablet at 7.3 inches (18.5 cm). The device “answers skeptics who said that everything that could be done has been done,” DJ Koh, chief executive of Samsung Electronics, said at an event in San Francisco. “We are here to prove them wrong.” Samsung remains the world’s largest smartphone maker with nearly a fifth of global unit sales but underperformed a slumping market last year. Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd - whose Mate series of phones also command premium prices - gained market share. Other Chinese makers like Xiaomi Corp have also been increasing prices, leaving Samsung to defend its turf against upstart rivals in addition to its longtime foe Apple. With the foldable phone, Samsung is going on the offense on two fronts in the smartphone race: It is offering an eye-catching new feature with the big, bending screen and the first 5G connection in a premium phone, a feature analysts do not expect Apple to match until 2020. Samsung is also making improvements to its flagship Galaxy S devices and plans to offer a 4G version of its folding phone. It also challenges the notion of what a phone can cost, debuting at nearly twice the price of current top-of-the-line models from Apple and Samsung itself. Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, said the new folding device could help Samsung stay at the top and lure consumers to upgrade devices that have looked largely the same over the past five years. “Samsung and Apple go back and forth” to lead the premium smartphone market, Moorhead said. “I think this is Samsung’s chance to take back the innovation crown.” And even though the $1,980 starting price is steep, some dedicated Samsung fans said they would pay it. Navneet Kumar Singh, a Samsung enthusiast from India who traveled to San Francisco to watch the launch, is ready to place his order. “The prices of the flagship models have been a little aggressive in India,” he said, “But in the end, if you invest the money you’re getting a different experience.” Samsung also introduced several accessories to compete against Apple, including a pair of wireless headphones called Galaxy Buds. The headphones include wireless charging, a feature that Apple has promised to put into is competing AirPods but has not yet released. Samsung also said that its new Galaxy phones will be able to wirelessly charge its headphones and new smartwatches by setting the accessories on the back of the phone. Slideshow ( 8 images ) 10 TIMES FASTER Along with the folding phone, Samsung also added new cameras and a 5G version to its Galaxy series of phones. Verizon Communications Inc will be the first carrier to offer service for Samsung’s 5G phones. The networks are expected to be 10 times faster than current ones, improving viewing of live news and sports events. Slideshow ( 8 images ) With the 5G versions of its flagships, the Korean electronics maker looks to have beaten Chinese rivals in the 5G race, although the device will operate only on the small number of networks launching later this year. Apple is not expected to release a 5G smartphone until late 2020. The new networks are not available in many places yet but will roll out this year and next. Consumers who want to hold on to their phones for several years before upgrading may be tempted to buy a 5G phone now so that it will be able to take advantage of those networks later, said Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research. That could sway some Apple buyers over to Samsung and other Android makers with 5G devices. “People are going to be thinking about, am going to be able to use this a year from now? Two years from now? Three years?” he said. Rival smartphone makers are expected to announce 5G models at next week’s Mobile World Congress, the industry’s top annual event, in Spain. Samsung said its 5G handset would be available in the early summer. The Galaxy 10 series needs to appeal to consumers who are reluctant to upgrade for only incremental technological improvements in performance. All of the Galaxy series of rigid phones except the 5G will be available from March 8, with the S10+ priced from $1,000, the S10 priced from $900 and the smaller S10e from $750. The mainline S10 compares with $999 for Apple’s iPhone XS and $858 for Huawei’s premium Mate 20 Pro.<doc-sep>Samsung unveiled its foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, on Wednesday. The Galaxy Fold costs nearly $2,000 and is scheduled to launch on April 26. The device can be used as a smartphone or folded out into a tablet. The folding screen is a neat trick, but the phone has a glaring design flaw that no one seems to be talking about. With each year, smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung are pushing phone screens closer and closer to the edge — literally. Removing smartphone bezels has become an industrywide goal over the past few years. It's Apple's fault, as you might suspect. In 2017, Apple's iPhone X introduced everyone to the concept of a smartphone "notch" as a trade-off for a phone with a nearly edge-to-edge screen. Almost every other smartphone maker, from Google to Samsung, has followed suit. Look no further than Samsung's new Galaxy S10 smartphone for an idea of how Apple's iPhone X design has pushed the smartphone industry toward an "all glass" phone interface: The Galaxy S10 and S10E are almost entirely screen, other than the thin frame. Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider Which is why one particularly bizarre design choice stood out so much when, on Wednesday, I first saw the Galaxy Fold, the $1,980 folding smartphone/tablet that Samsung is also launching this year. That the device folds is remarkable. A folding screen! That's some "Jetsons"-style futuristic magic right there. After that novelty wore off, however, something else stood out: the smartphone's front screen. Given that the device is still primarily a smartphone, it's striking how bizarrely small the screen is, at 4.6 inches. Even more striking, perhaps, are the two absolutely massive black bars on the top and bottom of that tiny screen. Talk about thick bezels! Samsung/YouTube Are there technical reasons for these large gaps? Almost certainly. Price considerations, given the already high price of the device? Assuredly. The Galaxy Fold is more or less a new product category, so we're in uncharted territory. There could be any number of reasons for the large gaps above and below the smartphone's screen. That said, anyone switching from a standard, modern smartphone to the Galaxy Fold will need to consider the trade-off: losing about a full inch of screen real estate in exchange for a folding phone. We've asked Samsung representatives for a statement on the screen design but haven't heard back. Here's the debut trailer for the Samsung Galaxy Fold, set to launch on April 26:<doc-sep>
Samsung has unveiled the final design and name for its cutting-edge Galaxy Fold phone that has a screen that folds in half and costs $1,980. The new device will be released on 26 April in the US and 3 May in Europe, after nearly a decade in the making. The Galaxy Fold literally folds in half like a book to use as a phone with a 4.6in screen on the outside, and unfolds to reveal a large 7.3in screen to use as a tablet on the inside. The Samsung senior vice-president for mobile Justin Denison said: “With the Galaxy Fold we’re giving you powerful smartphone and a revolutionary tablet.” Available in 4G and 5G versions, the phone is seen as a crucial product for Samsung as it tries to maintain its position as the biggest smartphone manufacturer against stiff competition from its Chinese rivals. The Fold has a powerful and smooth hinge with hidden gears, a split battery and a new software system called app continuity that switches between the screen as you open the phone. It also comes with 12GB of ram and 512GB of storage, making it one of the most powerful smartphones available. It also has six cameras: three on the back, two on the big screen and one on the front screen for selfies when the phone is closed. DJ Koh, the head of Samsung’s mobile business, said: “We are pushing past the boundaries of technology to inspire renewed innovation and interest in the smartphone industry. “To those who say they’ve seen it all, I say, buckle your seatbelt, the future is about to begin.” The Galaxy Fold is one of the most powerful smartphones available. Photograph: Samsung The world’s second biggest smartphone maker, Huawei, is also expected to announce a folding phone in Barcelona at the end of February, while US-based Chinese firm Royole launched a developer prototype of its FlexPai folding phone last year. Ben Wood of CCS Insight said: “Unveiling a product just ahead of rivals is an important milestone for Samsung that helps ensure that it stands out as a leader in the smartphone market.” Folding or expanding devices have been predicted by science fiction for decades. But turning the flexible OLED technology that has formed the basis for the curved screens of Samsung’s top-end smartphone line for the past four years into something repeatedly foldable has proved difficult. Samsung first showed off its Infinity Flex Display in November, partnering with Google to tempt developers to create apps for the new format. But now Samsung is set to put it on sale, available to the mass market at twice the cost of any other smartphone. Although the Galaxy Fold is unlikely to sell in similar quantities to the Galaxy S10 line of smartphones also launched on Wednesday, it promises to be the next logical step in the evolution of the smartphone. It offers the utility of a phone and tablet in one device and looks set to see the smartphone cannibalise yet another device, following the death of the music player, the compact camera and perhaps soon the wallet. The large-screen tablet is likely safe for a few years at least, as Samsung will have to make the technology it is pioneering for the Galaxy Fold available at affordable prices for it to be put out to pasture But for the time being, Wood said: “The Galaxy Fold will be magnet for gadget lovers despite its high cost and the broader issue of its being a product that is arguable a solution looking for a problem.”