Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus launch appear to have gone off without a hitch but when asked about the company’s long-rumored folding smartphone – tentatively, the Galaxy X – the company is reportedly still not talking, according to CEO DJ Koh who responded to questions about the device during the launch at MWC 2018. Unfortunately, those comments fell along the same lines as his previous statements on the matter. Specifically, Koh restated that he needs complete confidence that the device can deliver on the user experience Samsung has grown its reputation around. He went on to say that more information would be made available when the device was ready. Pressed about whether or not that reveal might be ready by some point this year, Koh simply smiled and indicated that sometimes his hearing isn’t very good.
Obviously, with the Galaxy S series of devices serving as the company’s flagship, it makes sense that Koh wouldn’t want to overshadow the event with news about a folding smartphone. Moving to introduce an entirely new category of device is a big risk and Samsung has quite a lot to lose if that particular device launch happens to flop. That’s also not necessarily an unlikely scenario, with consideration for ZTE’s efforts in that enterprise – which was largely viewed as a somewhat half-baked attempt. Regardless, it is apparent that work has continued on the device in the months since the most recent rumors hit the news and it makes sense for Samsung to take its time.
In the meantime, the executive did also reconfirm that Samsung would have a Bixby-enabled speaker coming to market as well. The currently expected launch window is for sometime in the second half of 2018 and, as with the suspected Galaxy X, Koh said he would need more time before revealing a more specific date. With that said, the launch of a Bixby-enabled speaker makes a lot of sense, following Samsung’s showing at CES this year. The company has steadily increased the number of IoT products its assistant technology can interact with and the number of devices in its own IoT arsenal. Since Amazon Alexa and Google Home have set a standard using smart speakers as a smart home hub, it makes sense that is the direction Samsung would take.