Samsung's foldable smartphone could land this year

A foldable smartphone has supposedly been in the pipeline at Samsung for years, ever since the firm showed off its first flexible plastic screen prototypes at CES, Las Vegas in 2011.

Samsung's elusive folding smartphone could finally see the light of day in summer 2017 in a handful of trial markets, according to a Chinese Twitter account (@mmddj_china) specialising in Samsung-related leaks. In the Samsung calendar, the folding phone would land well after the launch of the Galaxy S8 (from April 21) but before the Galaxy Note 8 (expected this fall).

For months, specialist Samsung news websites have been talking about patents reportedly filed by the manufacturer at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), hinting at a possible design for the firm's future folding smartphone. Such a device has supposedly been in the pipeline at Samsung for years, ever since the firm showed off its first flexible plastic screen prototypes at CES, Las Vegas (USA) in 2011. One of the leaked patents features an original hinge system for folding the smartphone in half, echoing old-school flip phones but with a large display spanning the phone's front face when open.