Samsung Offers to Supply Foldable Displays to Apple and Google

[cmaier]

There will be a market for foldables in some amount. They would serve a purpose for certain users in certain use cases. On major problem is going to be the look and durability of the screen. I have coworkers who have Motorola phones with plastic surfaces. They look ok at first but soon start to get haze scratches. Also the feel of the screen is not nearly as nice as glass. If you need a foldable and don’t mind the trade offs, then it may be a good choice. But they will never be the standard. There will not ever be a time when most phones are foldable.

May make for other interesting form factors, though. A tablet when opened uses half the display as a soft keyboard/trackpad/auxiliary input, and can close like a laptop? A 2-page-at-a-time kindle, where you can fold back half the screen and use it in 1-up format?

 

[brentonbrenton]

I don't think the innovation will be in a phone with a single fold, but a device that has two folds. Essentially a device split into thirds, when folded the 1st third is a 'phone', first unfold (2 thirds displayed) it's a 'tablet' and then both unfolded it's a laptop/computing device.

That would be a game changer.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

this is what the apple has become, being hooked up by samsung , since apple can’t innovate any more, i rather sale you the screen, so i don’t have to waste years sueing you for viloating my patterns

Lol, wow... you are really, really, really ill-informed on the way tech is manufactured. Like, embarrassingly so.

Do you seriously think Samsung has no component suppliers?????!
You think they manufacture every bit of their products themselves?
You think they don’t pay millions to Hynix for example? How about Qualcomm? Toshiba?
Where does it end?? Do you imagine they smelt all their own ore?
*facepalm*
To put it in perspective for you- Samsung has a program called “Smart Factory support”, where they help some of their smaller/less sophisticated suppliers update their factories to better be able to handle Samsung’s volume of orders. In 2017, four hundred and eighty seven of their suppliers’ factories used this program. I believe by now that number is over a thousand.

Apple does WAY more custom in-house than Samsung does... designing their own chips (1st cpu, then gpu, now neural... not to mention the t-series & w-series, or the rumored in-house baseband chips). When they created these products, they erased HUGE payments for using tech from PowerVR, Imagination, ARM, and others. It’s looking like they may be able to create their own 5g chips soon & even desktop processors (eliminating reliance on Intel or Qualcomm).
When a company creates a new way to do something & no longer has to pay someone else to do it for them... I believe that’s called: what’s the word? Oh yeah, INNOVATION. Apple’s got a strong recent history in that area, w/ rumors pointing to acceleration, not deceleration.

Yeah... so while Apple does purchase screens from Samsung, that has precisely zero to do with whether they can or cannot innovate. For example: The XR screen was custom designed by Apple, w/ zero input from Samsung... they just sent them the specs & ordered some built.

As their largest single customer- Samsung needs to “sale” (sic) screens to Apple, so they can actually make money.. you know, without “sueing” (sic) companies for allegedly “viloating” (sic) their patents.

Further, I think when you pay market price to a supplier for a product that they would like to sell you... that’s not being “hooked up” by them.
I don’t say: “wow, Texaco really hooked me up w/ some gas- all I had to do is drive down there and pay the price listed on the sign... what a hook up!”, or “man did I ever get hooked up w/ food at the grocery store.... I went in & paid them the prices listed on the shelves; bet you wish you had a hook up like that, right?”.

TLDR;
everything that you said was wrong

 

[falainber]

It says that the iPad is the best tablet. Android phones are much closer to the iPhone than Android tablets are to the iPad. Not even close.

Not sure I understand. Is being close to iSomething a good thing or bad thing? Android vendors release tablets with a sole purpose of being media consumption devices. Take for example Samsung tablets. They are better as content consumption devices than iPads. They have better screen (AMOLED) and are thinner and lighter. And they do not cost as much. Apple is trying to position iPad as computer replacement and they are failing miserably at that. Luckily for Apple they have very devoted fans who buy iPads for content consumption and overpay badly for the features they do not need. But this may not last.
[doublepost=1551591635][/doublepost]

App developers need to actually develop their apps to work on a tablet's screen. It's not "automatic" without the developer actually doing the work. iOS is not outdated in that respect. If app developers have failed to upgrade their apps to support larger screens, that's on them. Until then, an iPhone app will run just fine on the tablet, just not without taking up the full screen. That's not a limitation of the OS, but nice try.

And yet, you won't find another modern OS with SDK targeted at a limited set of screen sizes and resolutions. I am not even sure what was the last OS like this (apart from iOS). Only DOS (original PC) comes to mind.

 

[rp2011]

The use case is really simple. People don’t like the inconvenience of multiple devices. It’s an innovation of convenience.

I think you’re going to find that an awful lot of people don’t find it “stupid.”

I know you’re going to find out no one wants this.

 

[john123]

I know you’re going to find out no one wants this.

Sigh. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean other people won't. Samsung didn't ramp up to manufacture 1 million units for initial production because "no one" wants it.

 

[cmaier]

Not sure I understand. Is being close to iSomething a good thing or bad thing? Android vendors release tablets with a sole purpose of being media consumption devices. Take for example Samsung tablets. They are better as content consumption devices than iPads. They have better screen (AMOLED) and are thinner and lighter. And they do not cost as much. Apple is trying to position iPad as computer replacement and they are failing miserably at that. Luckily for Apple they have very devoted fans who buy iPads for content consumption and overpay badly for the features they do not need. But this may not last.
[doublepost=1551591635][/doublepost]
And yet, you won't find another modern OS with SDK targeted at a limited set of screen sizes and resolutions. I am not even sure what was the last OS like this (apart from iOS). Only DOS (original PC) comes to mind.

The issue with the new iPads wasn’t screen size. It is the notch and the rounded corners. iOS could simply allow the full screen to be used but if the developer didn’t account for the rounded corners and notch the result could be a mess. So the developer has to essentially indicate to Xcode that their code takes this into account and then the whole screen can be used.

Apps are not coded to specific screen sizes. They are designed based on layout constraints and screen “traits” and adapt accordingly. That is why you can take a full screen iPad app and reduce it to ¼ screen and it doesn’t just shrink everything by 75 percent, and you don’t have to scroll horizontally to see everything.
[doublepost=1551592534][/doublepost]

Sigh. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean other people won't. Samsung didn't ramp up to manufacture 1 million units for initial production because "no one" wants it.

Very true. But let’s keep in mind 1 million units is not a lot, and that’s assuming they sell them all.

I think there’s a future for something like this, but this isn’t the right device yet.

 

[zulkiflim]

For me personally, If I were to get a foldable fold, it will be the Huawei Mate X...

It’s design is brilliant.

So many Youtuber reviews who actually had time to USE the device have changed their views .

Will be waiting for what Apple will offer ?

 

[anson42]

I don't think the innovation will be in a phone with a single fold, but a device that has two folds. Essentially a device split into thirds, when folded the 1st third is a 'phone', first unfold (2 thirds displayed) it's a 'tablet' and then both unfolded it's a laptop/computing device.

That would be a game changer.

I have no problem with that. IMO the single fold form factor we have seen so far has the potential to be a real game changer. I'm someone who uses both my iPhone and iPad, many times wishing for a larger screen when I'm out and about with only my Xs Max. A foldable iOS device that is easily portable could ultimately be just the thing for me. Double+ folding devices you describe would seem a logical step in folding evolution.

When looking at new tech like this, you just have to ignore pricing. So what if the Fold costs $2K (or it's thick and has that horrible small screen on the front) or that the Huawei is $2600 (and appears to have a horrible crease)? In a couple years when many companies have folding experience under their belts, the prices will come down and the form factors and UX will improve. Hopefully Apple will have a device that hits my sweet spot; folks are delusional if they think Apple isn't working hard on one. It's a matter of when not if we will see a foldable iOS device, though I hope they take their sweet time to learn from the product mistakes being made by this first gen.

 

[falainber]

The issue with the new iPads wasn’t screen size. It is the notch and the rounded corners. iOS could simply allow the full screen to be used but if the developer didn’t account for the rounded corners and notch the result could be a mess. So the developer has to essentially indicate to Xcode that their code takes this into account and then the whole screen can be used.

Apps are not coded to specific screen sizes. They are designed based on layout constraints and screen “traits” and adapt accordingly. That is why you can take a full screen iPad app and reduce it to ¼ screen and it doesn’t just shrink everything by 75 percent, and you don’t have to scroll horizontally to see everything.

Can you reduce app window to arbitrary size (or just to 1/4 screen)? Other OSes have been able to do it for more than 30 years now.

 

[nnoble]

Not politically fashionable but I much prefer the Huawei design for a folding phone.

 

[Ghost31]

Notice a keyword “near future”.
[doublepost=1551570991][/doublepost]
Like on android tables you mean
[doublepost=1551571320][/doublepost]
If apple used iPhone X as a template it would have an aspect Ratio 1:1 that would be funny for video.

Hey. I'm not on the foldable phones are cool train either. Infact I think its downright stupid right now and devices like the galaxy fold are just expensive compromises.

Having said that, I've been participating in apple related discussions for decades. Ya know what they all have in common? Someone tries to predict what apple would or wouldn't do and then are proved insanely wrong. Even when we've made reasonable assumptions. Like hey. Apple themselves said phones shouldn't be larger than 4 inches. They made a freaking commercial about it! Then the next generation was a large phone in two new sizes.

Apple has patents for folding phone. Apple may even be negotiating with Samsung for contracts to make them. Knowing all that, I wouldn't be super surprised if this time next year are "iPhone sales dipping. Will apple's foldable phone help?" with all these supply chain rumors about the next one being foldable

 

[MRrainer]

The Apple version of this would probably come in at just under 3 grand. Apple execs are "painfully aware" that this does not make sense.

I still doubt the long-term practicality of this. At least in its current form.

I don't doubt that the people designing these have a vision for it.
But I can't see it.
Maybe that's the difference between doing acid and not doing it?

 

[fokmik]

Samsung knows its a flop so wants apple to help this foldable segment

 

[bluecoast]

Maybe we’ll get a foldable iPad mini first?

 

[sundog925]

More like staring at $3599

for the entry level, 5K for the max version!

 

[Ramchi]

It says that the iPad is the best tablet. Android phones are much closer to the iPhone than Android tablets are to the iPad. Not even close.

That's probably more to do with Android users having Windows Laptops and Windows Ultra Portable...with better specs(than MBP) with touch interface and almost same cost like iPad but with 12-15 inch 4K screen and keyboard i5-i7 processors, 8GB-16GB RAM, 512 SSD options...

 

[ValO]

Not sure I understand. Is being close to iSomething a good thing or bad thing? Android vendors release tablets with a sole purpose of being media consumption devices. Take for example Samsung tablets. They are better as content consumption devices than iPads. They have better screen (AMOLED) and are thinner and lighter. And they do not cost as much. Apple is trying to position iPad as computer replacement and they are failing miserably at that. Luckily for Apple they have very devoted fans who buy iPads for content consumption and overpay badly for the features they do not need. But this may not last.
[doublepost=1551591635][/doublepost]
And yet, you won't find another modern OS with SDK targeted at a limited set of screen sizes and resolutions. I am not even sure what was the last OS like this (apart from iOS). Only DOS (original PC) comes to mind.

Better for media consumption is : 120hz, and none of the tablets including Samsung have that....

 

[Vjosullivan]

Getting desperate.

No. Developing stuff and selling it.

 

[alien3dx]

Getting desperate.

that's the problem on qualcom at first place..Should at least respect samsung still doing business after all this lawsuit.

 

[ValO]

I hope apple has made advancements in microled R&D, they have been working on it for 4 years now, since they took over luxvue.

Microled doesn’t need any bezel, and from 2 or more screens you can make one bigger screen, almost seamless. So no fold is needed.

But perhaps Apple needs to step up and do something with their cash and should have their own state of the art display plant(they already have quite a big R&D for displays). Or there should be a display manufacturer that is not a competitor and that can ramp up as fast r&d and production as tsmc does with their chips for apple. Perhaps LG display is the best candidate , for that. For now apple is always behind in the display development and are too dependent of Samsung.
[doublepost=1551602806][/doublepost]

that's the problem on qualcom at first place..Should at least respect samsung still doing business after all this lawsuit.

I respect that. But it is business and in business emotions are second, results are first. They don’ t think like all the fanboys, and Samsung has had some great quarters and results because of parts being supplied to apple. Their own mobile division has been on the decline for a few quarters too.

 

[gnasher729]

Getting desperate.

That comment is absolutely stupid. My supermarket offers food and other stuff and puts price tags on things, are you saying they are desperate?

 

[ValO]

I hope Apple goes the route of every other foldable that has been shown this year - display folds on the *outside*, not the inside. On the inside, you have to maintain a certain radius of the screen curve to avoid breaking, which ends up with the folded device having a gap (like the Microsoft Surface Book.) In a notebook-style design, that may work, but not for a phone you put in your pocket. Plus the Samsung Galaxy Fold has a tiny screen on the outside.

No, I hope if they go the folding screen route, they put the screen on the outside.

I hope apple comes with something different.

So 1 big screen on the outside that just has a hinge, and connects to one big screen that can be folded as an innie behind the big main screen.
When unfolded, the main big screen without the fold can act as a keyboard/trackpad, controlpad, to control the folded screen.
When everything is unfolded it should look like a MacBook (with a digital /screen keyboard), and when everything is in compact mode, the foldable screen is protected and not vulnerable to scratches.

It is like the galaxy fold, but one step further, using the front screen as a controller/keyboard in a laptop form factor.

 

[gnasher729]

if Apple isn't interested, at least remotely, why are they trying out patents with it?
https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/displays-flexible/

If Apple gets sued for patent infringement by some company that sells phones with foldable screens, then having such a patent will help them. A little bit. You saw how Qualcomm found some patents in their back pocket that have nothing whatsoever to do with their business to make life a little bit harder for Apple.
[doublepost=1551604945][/doublepost]

Translation: "We spent billions in R&D for this tech and now we hope to make that money back, because people hav realized how gimmicky it really is."

Translation: "We spent billions in R&D, and the more we sell, the more profit we make".
[doublepost=1551605508][/doublepost]

The use case is really simple. People don’t like the inconvenience of multiple devices. It’s an innovation of convenience.

How much are you willing to pay? Are you willing to pay twice as much as for an iPhone 8 plus an iPad? I'm not. And you get an unfolded screen that is basically a square.
[doublepost=1551605825][/doublepost]

Perhaps not to upgrade from the X, but it is a nice phone, especially for those coming from a 6 or 7.

That always happens here, a new iPhone comes out and some people say 'but nobody will pay $1000 to upgrade from iPhone X to iPhone XS". Common sense is that you will have people upgrading from iPhone 6 to iPhone XS. People who bought the most expensive iPhone at the time.

 

[George Dawes]

A foldable iPad Pro would be interesting