Bend the rules: The potential impact of bendable phones and flexible displays

At the tail end of February, the great and the good of the mobile tech industry made the annual pilgrimage to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress (MWC). This hotly anticipated gadget extravaganza is where manufacturers get to show off their latest shiny smartphones, and technophiles like us get a glimpse into the trends shaping mobile development in the next 12 months. This year, however, there had been rumours circulating that Samsung would at long last unveil a foldable smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy X.

Unfortunately, the Galaxy X again failed to make an appearance, yet there are high hopes that the Korean giant is in the final stages of unleashing such a device onto the market – potentially later this year. Samsung referred to foldable OLED displays in its latest earnings, which suggests a model is in the pipeline, while mobile chief Dongjin Koh confirmed to reporters at MWC that the company is actively developing such a device. Unsurprisingly, LG is also getting in on the act, with the electronics firm filing a patent last year for a folding phone that transforms into a hybrid tablet.

The origins of the mysterious Galaxy X stretch as far back as 2011 when Samsung revealed a prototype that survived 100,000 screen folds with only a 6% reduction in screen brightness. Yet in the intervening years the closest the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer has come to releasing phones with flexible displays was the Galaxy Round, with its concaved screen, and the Edge models of its flagship smartphones with curved sides.

The Galaxy X hitting the market would be a significant industry breakthrough, but also a gamble for the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. “The idea of a foldable screen has been exciting the world’s imagination for many years now with the countless movies and artists’ visualisations, so the possibility of it becoming a reality now is exciting in and of itself,” remarks Ben Pesso, web development manager for Mansion. However, he tempers that enthusiasm by suggesting the first generation of these devices will likely end up being “very niche”.

“Will it be a game changer?” he muses. “That depends entirely on how manufacturers choose to design and deliver the first generations of this new form factor.” For Robert Smith, head of mobile and new channels at Kindred Group, it all boils down to whether Samsung or its rivals can create a portable folding or bendable phone that can be operated naturally and easily stowed in a pocket. “Basically, you carry a phone but use a tablet, so the key question is whether phone users want a tablet. If we assume Samsung can deliver larger screen size without significantly adding to device bulk over a normal phone, then, at first glance, that additional screen real estate is always good. But there are other significant questions to answer, such as the existing web and app products themselves. For example, apps optimised for phones massively outnumber those for tablets, so until the tablet versions offer something additional to users they would see little value in the additional screen size.”

Iteration over innovation

Even though today’s smartphones come armed with considerably more computing muscle than when NASA first put men on the moon in the 1960s, most handsets are, by and large, very similar in appearance. Remove the logos and most people would probably struggle to spot make and models in an identity parade. Rather than radical overhauls to the design and form factor, smartphone-makers have instead lately been making upgrades and tweaks to biometric authentication and the cameras, not to mention introducing gimmicky features like animated emojis. It’s evolution rather than revolution.

However, Chinese manufacturer ZTE has dared to be different with its new foldable, dual-screen Axom M boasting two 5.2-inch displays. The screens fold out to create one large or two separate displays, giving it the appearance of a Nintendo 3DS, complete with a distracting black hinge running down the middle. It also tips the scales at a portly 230 grams and is 12.2mm thick. By comparison, the svelte Huawei P9 weighs 144 grams and is 6.95mm thick. “I tried out the Axiom M at CES [Consumer Electronics Show] and it’s a very interesting device, but the implementation isn’t quite there,” Smith says. Still, you have to applaud ZTE in some ways for producing a reverse-clamshell smartphone.

Samsung says it wants “complete confidence” in a foldable phone before any commercial release

Mock ups of the Galaxy X have presented the possibility of two extra screens unfurling from behind the main display, turning it into a tri-screen device with roughly the same dimensions as an iPad. If this is accurate then each screen needs to be extremely thin and the GPU requires enough grunt to run up to three high resolution displays at high frame rates. “This then poses computer power and heat problems, so a huge amount rests on the hardware capabilities,” says Neill Whyte, head of business development at Microgaming. A more feasible design is perhaps a clamshell design housing a fully flexible OLED display. Or it could include a rollable display. In 2016, Samsung demonstrated a rollable 5.7-inch HD display that was just 0.3mm thick, while LG unveiled a 65-inch rollable OLED 4K TV at CES in January – a world’s first. LG Display rolls up like a sheet of paper inside a base unit when not in use.

Opportunity knocks

Regardless of what exactly these bendable or folding phones look like, the prospect of being able to turn a five-inch handset into a 10-inch – or larger – portable media device opens up new possibilities for app developers and the gambling industry. It’s easy to envisage the extra screen real estate being able to comfortably accommodate live streaming, in-play markets, and match statistics and graphics. Or one screen (or half of the screen if it’s a flexible device) could be used for social media or messaging and the other dedicated to betting or gaming. Indeed, gaming, particularly live casino, could benefit the most here. Sure, live casino functions on a five-inch smartphone but it can feel a little cramped and the UI is still fiddly.

Having a tablet-like interface is bound to improve the UX and customer retention. “There’s huge scope to use screen real estate in all gaming product which, even now, is lacking given the penetration of tablets devices,” says digital transformation and omni-channel consultant Marcus Wareham. “I’m still yet to see anything really capitalise on the fact a tablet is held in the hand and interacted with using touch. Maybe as these hybrid devices start to become mainstream they will kick-start that change.”

Meanwhile, Whyte suggests that if these devices gain traction, companies could create bespoke content for a multi-screen experience. “What comes to mind is the evolution Nintendo has been on, going from the Nintendo 3DS to the Nintendo Switch. The 3DS has dual screens for a multi-screen experience and its evolution is now into something more portable and flexible with the Nintendo Switch. The 3DS has a primary screen experience and a secondary screen with some very immersive experiences. The online gaming industry would need to adapt its content to create similar immersive dual-screen experiences or have multiple games played side-by-side at the same time.”

Stick or twist?

In the meantime, it’s a case of sitting and waiting patiently for Samsung, rival LG or perhaps one of the up-and-coming Chinese brands to deliver a revolutionary smartphone. Back at MWC, Samsung’s Koh told CNET that he is seeking “complete confidence” in the foldable project before he gives the go-ahead for a commercial launch. This may suggest the hardware and technology isn’t quite there yet. Wareham highlights how there have been “many false starts” when new tech has been launched, for example smart watches, which he says have been confined to Room 101 as far as operators are concerned after “fingers were burnt” developing for the Apple Watch.

In the end, consumers have to want to ditch their traditional smartphones for a foldable version for these devices to go mainstream which will lead to increased development. It could take a few iterations for that to happen. “As an industry,” says Smith, “we will no doubt be able to come up with many use cases for the larger screen. The question, though, will be whether we can make them fit into the physical situations customers currently use the smaller screen devices for.”

Furthermore, the handsets need to be more than simply phones that morph into makeshift tablets, Pesso stresses. “If the end result is a flat screen that looks and behaves exactly like a tablet then it’s easy to see that it will not impact the industry much. That will also mean less innovation and lower opportunities for new user interfaces and experiences to be developed.” Over to you, Samsung. No pressure guys.