Video: Samsung reveals foldable phone to be called Galaxy X

Samsung may have accidentally revealed its plans to release a folding phone called the Galaxy X.

The South Korean tech firm has published a support page on its website relating to a gadget called the ‘SM-G888N0’, reports the Metro.

Industry experts believe this page was uploaded by mistake and actually relates to an upcoming phone due for release at the CES show in Las Vegas in January.

According to Dutch site Lets Go Digital, the Samsung Galaxy X will be a flip-phone design fitted with two displays. One of these screens could be foldable, allowing it to flex and bend.

‘In addition to the Galaxy X foldable smartphone we believe Samsung may also work on a Galaxy foldable tablet,’ Let’s Go Digital wrote. Samsung has already vowed to release a foldable smartphone next year and will probably be part of the Galaxy Note range. Rumours about Samsung’s plans for a bendy phone have been circulating for months.

Earlier this year, it was suggested that it was planning to release a device codenamed ‘Foldable Valley’ which turns into a 7-inch tablet when unfolded. However, this gadget has not materialised yet, despite claims it would be released in August.

Koh Dong-jin, president of mobile business at Samsung Electronics, previously said that Samsung would release ‘the holy grail’ of smartphones with a bendable display in 2018.

He said: ‘As the head of the business, I can say our current goal is next year. ‘When we can overcome some problems for sure, we will launch the product.’

Other firms are also working on bendy phones, which are likely to be extremely difficult to design and manufacture.

Apple has patented a foldable device which uses ‘carbon nanotubes’ to allow the screen to fold whilst still in operation.

Recent patents for a Microsoft Surface phone suggest that the Windows giant is also working on a bendy handset.

Last year Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at IBK Securities Company, said: ‘This product could be a game-changer if Samsung successfully comes up with a user interface suitable for bendable screens.

‘Their biggest obstacle was related to making transparent plastics and making them durable, which seems resolved by now.’