Samsung believes its new Galaxy Fold device could be the beginning of the end of smartphones as the company predicts 5G will move the tech industry towards wearables.
This is according to Samsung’s mobile boss DJ Koh who addressed the media during a media day in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung explained what went wrong with the Galaxy Fold.
Koh admitted the Galaxy Fold failure before launch was “embarrassing” and the company released it before it was ready. He is confident, however, flexible displays will set Samsung on a new path beyond smartphones.
According to Kang Yun-Je, head of Samsung Electronics design team, smartphones design had hit a limit. He predicts a “seamless” shift away from smartphones and in five years, people will not even realize they are wearing screens.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#0DFE00″ class=”” size=””]”The previous 10 years, it was an era of the smartphone,” said Koh. “From this year, maybe a new era is opening because of the emergence of the Internet of Things, 5G, AI, and all these technologies mingling together. The new era is in front of us.”[/perfectpullquote]
Koh also believes the foldable era will only last a couple of years and after that, people will be using smart devices rather than smartphones.
“As smartphones decline, new devices will emerge,” said Koh.
Samsung is way behind the wearable market at the moment with Apple owning much of the tech world with its Apple Watch range. Samsung also has no market share in smart speakers but the company has been working on a “Galaxy Home” device.
Whatever Samsung is planning the future of tech is exciting. All we can hope is our smartphones don’t blow up in our face and our R45,000 foldable phone does not break within days of use.
