Samsung’s foldable phone could arrive next March, and without 5G support

• Samsung could release its foldable phone in March next year.
• The company is apparently planning to test the phone on LTE networks in Korea in January.
• The device will not be compatible with 5G networks, according to the report.

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Samsung is reportedly planning to launch its foldable phone in March next year. According to ETNews, the company will begin testing the phone on LTE networks in Korea in January with a view to releasing the phone in the country two months later.

Though the article only mentions Korea, it wouldn’t be surprising if Samsung released the phone in other countries around the same time. Samsung generally releases flagship devices in many markets simultaneously.

The report also states that the phone will not support 5G because only a few countries are expected to be 5G-ready when it releases the phone. However, Samsung is tipped to release a 5G variant of the Galaxy S10 around the same time as the folding phone, which would suggest the move isn’t purely about 5G market availability.

The folding phone is rumored to be an expensive beast (possibly costing upwards of $1,500), and as 5G tech will cost more to implement than 4G LTE, perhaps this is a luxury Samsung doesn’t wish to add to an already costly product.

ETNews does say that Samsung is considering introducing a 5G version of the foldable phone in the second half of the year in some markets, though.

The information in the report fits in with comments from Samsung Mobile Chief DJ Koh who recently confirmed the company will launch the foldable phone in the first half of 2019. He also said Samsung is set to manufacture over 1 million units of the device and could make more if the market demands it.

This is far more than the 630,000 units of the Galaxy Note Edge Samsung is thought to have sold when it released the phone back in 2015. This was the first phone from Samsung that had a curved edge display.

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