Samsung exec spotted with what could be its first rollable smartphone

Samsung is recognized as a world leader in malleable OLED display technology with good reason. Its Galaxy Z Fold range and Galaxy Z Flip range have taken a foldable OLED approach to reinventing the smartphone form factor. However, it is also known that the company is working on a new smartphone form factor with a rollable OLED display. Like the Galaxy Z Fold, the device would work both as something similar to a normal smartphone, but expand into a larger device similar to a small tablet giving users the best of both worlds.

The would-be rollable smartphone from Samsung looks like it might have been caught in the wild for the first time ahead of a potential launch in the near future. Samsung’s Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been spotted carrying a device with a form factor we have never seen before in the wild. However, it does look suspiciously similar to a patent rendering for a rollable Samsung smartphone we have seen before, pictured below. 

Samsung is said to have given a select audience a preview of the device at CES 2020. Coupled with its first public appearance in the hands of Samsung’s Vice Chairman, it suggests that Samsung is on track to release the device sometime in 2021. Given that LG is also expected to unveil its first rollable smartphone this year, you can bet both companies will want to beat each other to market. Naturally, we don’t expect either device to be cheap, but we can’t wait to see what the form factor offers.