Consumer Expectations Growing
As Samsung Electronics tries to apply foldable technology to tablet PCs following smartphones, anticipation for foldable tablets is growing among consumers.
Samsung Electronics has recently received approval for a design patent from the USPTO for the development of the Galaxy Fold Tab (tentative name), a foldable tablet PC. Although Samsung is a leader in the foldable smartphone market, it has not launched a foldable tablet yet.
The patent contains information on the hinge of a tablet PC and its overall design. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold smartphones, the tablet does not have an external display that is revealed when its screen is folded.
The hinge part where the screen folds is rather thick and gets thinner as it approaches the border. The overall bezel is slim, but the hinge bezel is pushed a little more inside the screen, creating two notches (one at the top and the other at the bottom). On the side border of the notch is a power button, stereo speakers, a USB-C terminal, cameras and various sensors. Instead, the foldable tablet does not have a display punch hole camera or rear camera like the Galaxy Z Fold.
Industry insiders say that Samsung Electronics is likely to introduce foldable tablet PCs to expand the foldable device market currently limited to smartphones. Thus far, tablet PCs have been losing ground as smartphone screens have become larger since foldable phones were introduced. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 released in September 2020 is 7.6 inches long when it opens its main screen. Apple's iPad mini is 7.9 inches and Samsung's Galaxy Tab S7 is 12.4 inches. Tablet PCs which people have used to enjoy videos on large screens rather than on small smartphone screens have lost its attractiveness due to foldable phone.
Market research firm DSCC predicted in its 2020 Market Research Report that the foldable display market will expand from smartphones to cover medium and large device markets of tablet PCs and laptops, continuing its average annual growth of 131 percent over the next four years.
Not only Samsung Electronics but Lenovo, Microsoft, Dell, HP and Apple are showing interest in foldable tablet PCs. Lenovo introduced the ThinkPad X1 Fold, the world's first foldable laptop, at the end of 2020. MS is expected to release similar products during the second half of 2021. Dell unveiled a prototype of a foldable tablet PC at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 held in Las Vegas.
"Although existing tablet PCs overlap with smartphones in terms of applications, foldable tablet PCs with displays 13 inches or larger will compete with laptops," said Choi Pil-sik, an IT expert and power blogger.