"Samsung Electronics will open an era of popularization of foldable smartphones in the second half of this year," said Roh Tae-moon, President, and Head of Mobile Communications Business.
Roh acknowledged that the smartphone market is not green at the moment, but also expressed confidence that he can overcome the situation with various strategies.
Roh made the announcement at a press conference in San Francisco on Feb. 11 (local time) after unpacking new products such as the Galaxy S20 series and the Galaxy Z flip.
"The change in form factor (size and shape of hardware) like foldable phones, the advent of 5G, and the development of artificial intelligence are opportunities for the new era," Roh said. "Our goal is to create an opportunity for the mobile industry to grow together and let Samsung Mobile take the lead."
He cited three ways to achieve this: innovation, cooperation with top global players to provide services and contents that customers want, and efficiency.
Roh said Samsung's upcoming foldable phones will be two categories of "Galaxy Fold" that offers the use of tablet-like screens and "Galaxy Z Flip," which has enhanced portability in a compact size.
"Although new categories of products are still under development, they can be released only when perfection is secured," Roh said. "We are doing a lot of various things that are difficult to say any form of products now."
"Technically, we can try various forms, but the first criterion is to determine what value it gives to consumers, whether the contents of the service are supported or comfortable to carry around," he added.