Samsung unveils foldable smartphone, but a startup beat them to it

Electronics giant Samsung gave developers a first look at its foldable smartphone at a conference in San Francisco tonight, as it urged Android users to begin creating products and apps for the hardware.

It also launched a flexible screen for its foldable phones, called Infinity Flex Display, which it said will be developed in association with Google.

However the tech firm held back from showing the phone’s final design, as it plans to start production of the product within months.

The company had been racing against Chinese competitor Huawei to be the first to debut a folding smartphone, but it was beaten to the punch by startup Royole which unveiled its Flexpai phone earlier this week.

When folded, the smartphone uses a “cover display” on the outside, before switching to a larger 7.3 inch tablet-style display as it folds out.

As the event was intended simply as an early peek for developers, Samsung did not reveal information on pricing or branding of the phone.