Samsung Wants To Force Its Folding Galaxy Phone On Us This Year Whether We Want It Or Not

First over form and function.

- Michael Simon

Samsung has been threatening to release a folding phone for the better part of five years, and now it looks like it might actually happen. In an interview with CNBC at the IFA trade show in Berlin (go.pcworld.com/fdsm), mobile CEO DJ Koh, who has been talking up the company’s folding phone project any chance he gets, all but announced that we’ll get a first look at the new handset before the year is up.

According to CNBC, Koh “hinted that more details of the device could be unveiled this year at the Samsung Developer Conference in November in San Francisco,” but stopped short of divulging when it would actually go on sale. Koh said that the new phone’s development process has “nearly concluded.”

Based on his rather vague comments, it will probably be a preview rather than a full launch, and more than likely it will be branded as a prototype. It might not even have a name. But make no mistake: Samsung is determined to announce the world’s first truly foldable phone for one reason and one reason only: to be first, not because the world needs it. Or even wants it.

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM