Samsung is no stranger to flexible displays, as the Korean giant has a personal goal of bringing foldables to the consumer market.

A patent filed last year showed foldable smartphones and tablets as part of the Android OEM’s future plans, and Samsung’s patent-filing history goes back some years.

There’s been enough speculation from analysts and enough silence from Samsung to fill an ocean, but the Korean giant has finally come to admit its current project and future goal. According to a report out of Korea, Samsung’s very own mobile division CEO, D.J. Koh, has gone on record to state that the foldable display device is on target for a 2018 launch. View the below statement.

“We have a plan to adopt a foldable display in our roadmap. We are currently addressing some technological hurdles to commercialize such a device. We will launch a foldable device when we are fully ready, and we are aiming to do so next year,”

Some leakers have said that the foldable display device could be called the Galaxy X and compete with Apple’s new iPhone X that was announced just today.

While it’s certainly comforting to see D.J. Koh admit that the foldable display is where some of Samsung’s attention lies, there’s still one unanswered question: whether the Galaxy S or Galaxy Note series will get the bragging right of being graced with the foldable display first. We do know that the Galaxy Note series was the first to showcase a smartphone in the series with dual-curved edges (called the Galaxy Note Edge), and that the Galaxy S line got its dual-curved edge smartphone the following year, called the Galaxy S6 Edge. Samsung has been experimental with the Galaxy Note series more than any other, trying out features in the Galaxy Note lineup before bringing them over to the Galaxy S lineup. The same could happen with the Galaxy Note 9 in 2018.

Speaking of the Galaxy Note 9, the Galaxy Note 8, just announced some days ago, is doing well in its pre-order stage. The Galaxy Note 8 features a near bezel-less display it calls the ‘Infinity Display’ with a Quad HD+ resolution, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and dual rear cameras.

Currently, Samsung is giving away $200+ worth of free gifts to customers who pre-order the Galaxy Note 8. Former Galaxy Note 7 owners who traded in their smartphone can receive up to 50% off the new Galaxy Note 8 (whether with carriers or at Samsung.com).

SOURCE [The Korea Herald]