Upcoming Samsung foldable rumored to feature an old-school clamshell design

The Galaxy Fold successor will sport a 6.7-inch main display.

What you need to know

• A new Samsung foldable will be a foldable clamshell smartphone.
• The smartphone is expected to have a 6.7-inch main display along with a 1-inch secondary display on the front.
• Samsung's next-generation foldable phone might be launched early next year.

If a new rumor out of South Korea is to be believed, Samsung's next-generation foldable smartphone will have a clamshell form factor, similar to the rumored foldable Motorola Razr. Instead of being a phone/tablet hybrid like the Galaxy Fold, the rumored device will focus on portability.

The device, which may be a successor to the Galaxy Fold, will have a 6.7-inch AMOLED main display that will fold vertically. When folded, the device will have a tiny 1-inch display on the front, which will be used to display "simple information" such as notifications. Thanks to the smaller display, it should be roughly the same size as the Galaxy S10 5G in terms of physical footprint, when it is unfolded. When folded, however, it should be a lot more compact. Certain parts such as the foldable display panel are expected to enter mass production in November this year, while the smartphone itself might arrive sometime in the first half of 2020.

As SamMobile notes, the switch to a clamshell form factor could allow the device to be more affordable compared to the Galaxy Fold, which is priced at $1,980. While Samsung had announced the Galaxy Fold amid much fanfare in February, the foldable smartphone is yet to go on sale.

It was originally slated to go on sale in the U.S. on April 26 but Samsung decided to delay the launch of the phone to fix the screen issues encountered by several tech reviewers. While giving a speech at the Korean Information Display Society last week, Samsung Display Vice President Kim Seong-cheol said that most of the screen issues have been fixed and the Galaxy Fold is "ready to hit the market".

Samsung Galaxy Fold review: Potential and promise, not a product