How Samsung is unfolding the future of screens, smartphones

SMARTPHONES have remained the same and boring with minor innovations.

Samsung spent eight years on moving the needle to make them interesting with the development of the foldable category.

The South Korean company has been at the forefront of foldable handsets for years. It teased the form factor well before the technology was ready. And then it released the first Galaxy Fold before actually testing it properly in real-life environments.

The initial launch failed miserably, as Samsung had to find fixes for critical design flaws that led to the destruction of the phone.

The Fold 2 and Fold 3 significantly improved the phone’s durability, especially the latter. The Fold 3 tried to make things better.

It also struggled in some aspects and it was hardly perfect. The new Fold 4 should fix some of the usability and design issues the Fold 3 suffered from.

The new foldable will have a larger external display and weigh less than its predecessor, thanks to hinges that are placed differently.

Where are we headed with foldables?

The latest Flip 4 and Fold 4 are the latest indication that there’s more to foldables than just smartphones. Samsung has managed to show us, with foldable screen, that it’s possible to fold a glass and still show videos, text and images.

Such an achievement cannot just remain with the smartphones. There are strong indications that the smartphone as we know it is approaching its deathbed.

One tech influencer said: “There’s a great likelihood that what will follow is

eye-wear that will work with ear buds and smartwatches to replace the smartphones.” (Samsung also launched new earbuds and new smartwatches with the Foldable devices).

For such eyewear to be truly revolutionary it will have to be foldable. It is therefore safe to say that foldables are unfolding the future screens, starting with smartphones to other things.

Those smart-things may include car dashboards, smartboards for work and education.

We are at an early stage of what can be referred to as the world of screens everywhere.

In a world that will require us to interact with the virtual world, we will need surfaces that are interactive and flexible. The foldables innovation may be taking us to the future as they include engineering the glass to be more than just a shiny static and unmovable object.

For now the adoption of foldables is not where it should be to be mainstream. It may need the engineers in Cupertino to develop their version of a foldable iphone. Such a competition may just speed up the adoption. There’s already competition from Chinese brands which is indirectly driving a minimal adoption of this category in Asia.

To drive massive adoption of foldables, Samsung will need more than just competition from other brands.

Samsung may need to go beyond smartphones and include tablets, laptops and desktops.

They have proven that the glass can bend and now maybe the next evolution should include the bending of all screens for better mobility, workspace, readability and functionality.

Once this has succeeded, the next evolution should include walls and desks. This may be far from what is imagined in South Korean labs about foldables.

It does tell us, however, that Samsung has managed to unlock innovation in the smartphone space. It may be difficult to articulate the “why” of using foldables. What is clear is that they have paved a way for the next thing after the smartphone as we know it today.

The latest Fold 4 and Flip 4 should be seen as objects that are introducing us to the future of digital interactions as we merge the physical and virtual worlds.

The Web 3 will be about software and hardware. Samsung has created an important tool, in the form of the foldable glass, that may be used as we build the seamless world between virtual and physical spaces.

This form of innovation in the smartphone sector serves as a breath of fresh air in the world that has remained the same for decades. It’s showing us that Samsung can innovate. More, however, will be necessary for the world to replace current versions of smartphones and adopt the foldables. ¡