Samsung expects Apple to join the folding screen sector in 2024, with an annual growth rate of 80 per cent in 2025

CTOnews.com, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) Samsung's mobile business unit outlined its collapsible smartphone strategy at a meeting with suppliers in October, according to TheElec. Samsung told suppliers that it believes the folding screen smartphone market will grow at a compound annual rate of 80% by 2025.

The South Korean technology giant also said Apple is expected to join the folding screen sector in 2024, but first laptops and tablets, not smartphones. This may suggest that Apple's new phone should also purchase flexible panels displayed by Samsung.

CTOnews.com has reported that Guo Mingyi said Apple is testing a 9-inch foldable display device, but the long-rumored folding screen iPhone is unlikely to be launched before 2025.

Samsung also said that in the South Korean market, iPhone users in their 20s and 30s are replacing their devices with Samsung folding screen phones at three to four times faster than before. The tech giant also said it is expected that 90% of smartphone users with a folding screen will continue to buy the next phone.

Although folding screen phones account for only 1% of the entire smartphone market, Samsung believes customers are highly satisfied and expects the industry to grow exponentially, according to sources.

At the same time, Samsung shares some of the challenges that it believes its suppliers need to overcome to make folding-screen phones more popular. One of these includes making the phone lighter, thinner, more durable, reducing creases on the screen, setting slots for the S Pen, and achieving stronger imaging performance.

Samsung Electronics is also required to increase the vibration frequency of vibrating motors and develop new materials that can reduce the weight of folding screen phones.

According to reports, the tech giant initially planned to bring a slot for the S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and also hoped to equip the Fold 4 with more high-end lenses, but it was forced to give up due to weight and thickness restrictions, and may be implemented on the new machine next year. In terms of durability, Samsung's goal is to make its folding screen phones as resistant as its previous flagship phones.

During the meeting, the development of Android software adapted to a 4-to-3 screen was also highlighted, but the results are still unknown.