Samsung look set to unleash its feverishly-anticipated foldable flagship handset, dubbed Galaxy X or Galaxy Fold, early next year. The all-new smartphone boasts two OLED displays – a 4.5-inch screen, known as the Cover Display, and a 7.3-inch "Infinity Flex Display" which opens unfolds like the pages of a paperback to offer a fully-fledged tablet experience when playing games, and watching games.
This forthcoming foldable phone will be the first in a new range of pliable devices from Samsung, which will purportedly include Infinity Display tablets, and laptops. But until then, the Galaxy X will be one of the only devices available worldwide that boasts this next-generation folding OLED. And that means it's going to be expensive.
According to technology blog LetsGoDigital has obtained an extensive report into foldable phones from Korean research agency CGS-CIMB Research to help inform shareholders.
The report claims the Galaxy X is 69% more expensive to manufacture than the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, which sells for £929 ($959.99) for the maxed-out 256GB model. Each of these Galaxy S9 Plus handsets purportedly costs $375.80 (£298 converted) in materials for Samsung. That means the South Korean company makes around 55% profit on each of these devices sold.
According to the CGS-CIMB Research report, the Galaxy X costs $636.70 (£505 converted) in materials for Samsung. Assuming the foldable handset is sold for a similar profit margin, the Galaxy X will cost at least $1,400 (£1,112 converted).
In reality, it's likely to cost much more than this. After all, the maxed-out Galaxy Note 9 already costs £1,099 ($1,249.99) – and that only has one screen – it would seem inevitable the next-generation folding smartphone will spiral even higher than that.
CGS-CIMB Research claims Samsung will be looking to target the same 65% profit margin that Apple achieves with its top model, iPhone XS Max. That would result in a $1,800 (£1,430 converted) price tag for the foldable handset.
Based on the leaked Galaxy S10 prices that surfaced online earlier this week, that would seem to be about right, since that would comfortably placer the next-generation foldable two-screened Galaxy X above the maxed-out Galaxy S10 Plus with a jaw-droppingly excessive 1TB of inbuilt storage.
Elsewhere, the new research report claims the Galaxy X will have two separate battery cells – one inside each side of the fold. Working together, these will purportedly deliver a battery capacity of between 5,000 to 6,000mAh.
The Galaxy X will sport a dual rear-facing camera set-up comprised of two 12 megapixel lens to achieve 2x optical zoom and add a bokeh-style blur effect to the background behind portrait-style photographs. As for the selfie camera, Samsung will opt for a single 8-megapixel lens.
This information has been verified at suppliers, according to Jun Lim, research analyst at CGS-CIMB Research.
Lead Image Credit: LetsGoDigital
