In Samsung’s imaginative and prescient for the longer term, foldable tablets and slidable shows conquer the world

Considered one of my favourite elements of CES is unveiling wacky show expertise that can in all probability by no means be utilized in shopper merchandise. Proper cue, Samsung Show, the South Korean tech large’s display screen division, has revealed a prototype 18.1-inch foldable OLED display. This can be a step up from the 17.3 foldable show it confirmed off a number of years in the past.

The tech large is not recognized to be engaged on a shopper model of the tech, however that is the second time Samsung has proven off a foldable OLED show at CES. The present prototype, which runs Windows, turns right into a 13.1-inch laptop computer with touchscreen performance when folded, and when unfolded, the display screen turns into a sprawling 18.1-inch show. Samsung Show provides the screens for foldable gadgets like Asus’ ZenBook 17 Fold, so it is doable we might see this 18.1-inch foldable OLED in a future Asus pill or laptop. Samsung additionally confirmed off a number of different attention-grabbing show ideas at CES 202025.

Samsung additionally revealed cool slideable show ideas

It is unclear if any of those ideas will make their approach to a shopper product

Together with its foldable OLED display screen, Samsung revealed three slidable OLED idea gadgets at CES 2025: the Slidable Flex Duet, Slidable Flex Solo, and Slidable Flex Vertical. To be clear, we have seen Samsung showcase a minimum of a few of these ideas at CES previously, so they don’t seem to be solely new.

The Slidable Flex Duet extends from each side, shifting from an 8.1-inch display screen to a 12.4-inch pill. Alternatively, the Slidable Flex Solo transforms from a 5.1-inch smartphone to a barely greater 6.7-inch display screen. Lastly, the Slidable Flex Solo extends from only one aspect, turning its 13-inch display screen right into a 17.3-inch show.

The Slidable Flex Duet looks like probably the most sensible of the ideas because it slides right into a a lot greater pill, however it might additionally seemingly be pricey for Samsung Show to provide at scale. If I needed to guess, the one idea which may make it right into a shopper machine is the Flex Solo, which supplies you a show that is only a bit greater when it is prolonged.

Like its folding OLED idea, it is doable we might see these folding smartphone prototypes adopted by one other smartphone producer provided that Samsung Show offers the screens for lots of high-end smartphones, together with Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro.