Rollable-screen smartphones have been a dream for years, and yet we still don’t have any to buy. That might change in a couple of years or so, if a new report from Korea is to be believed. According to unnamed industry sources, Samsung Display wants to be the king of the rollable screen market, as it’s feeling a lot of pressure from Chinese display panel makers in the foldable space.
As a consequence, Samsung Display is allegedly in discussions with Samsung Electronics to supply the latter with rollable screens for a smartphone that is currently targeting a release in the first half of 2028. This has reportedly been confirmed by “a Samsung Electronics official”.
Samsung Display’s Rollable Flex concept
Today’s report claims the smartphone will be called Galaxy Z Slide, but Samsung has also trademarked the name Galaxy Z Roll, so we assume either of those could be used. A market research firm predicted this device having a 10-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 440.6 ppi. A successor should be launching in 2030.
Obviously, all of this is great in theory, but rollable screens are still way more difficult to make than foldable ones, owing to their increased structural complexity. Even so, Samsung Display has been working on this for years – back in 2023 it showed its first concepts and since then it’s been supplying panels for Lenovo’s rollable laptops.
Unlike in foldables where BOE caught up with Samsung Display and even managed to lead the market in the first quarter of this year, Samsung Display is reportedly way ahead in rollables, so it can pretty much have the entire market to itself, at least in the first few years. Hence why it’s important for Samsung Electronics to get on board and start making rollable-screen smartphones a thing.
Source (in Korean)
