Samsung Galaxy S8 To Have Only Curved Screen Variant?

Samsung first experimented with a curved display on its smartphones when it launched the Galaxy Note Edge in 2014, and the curved screen became more mainstream in 2015 with the Galaxy S6. Other than a flat screen variant, the South Korean company also offered two curved variants of the flagship device — one had a curved edge only on the right side and the other had curved edges on both right and left.

After the runaway success of its Galaxy S7 Edge variant in 2016, the world’s largest smartphone maker may be considering entirely dropping flat screens from future models of the Galaxy S series. Or so it would seem from recent comments by Koh Dong-jin, the head of Samsung’s mobile business.

According to Korea Herald, Koh said during an interview: “Samsung has considered that it would make the edge display as the identity of the Galaxy S smartphone lineup if the company can provide consumers differentiated user experience through software and user-friendly functions (for the curved screen).”

The fact that Samsung is releasing its 2016 flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 7, in a dual curved variant only can be seen as a litmus test for the company’s future display plans. The Note 7 doesn’t even have the word “edge” tagged on to its name, another indication of the direction the company may be moving in.

A market watcher told the Korean Herald: “Samsung will not likely get rid of the flat-screen Galaxy S smartphone model right away, but if the market response is positive with the Note 7, it would surely serve as a cue for Samsung to focus only on the Edge model.”

Other than enhanced functionality, the curved screens also make for a better grip on the phone, compared to the angular edges of flat screen devices.

In 2016, Samsung lost out on sales of the curved screen variant of the Galaxy S6 since actual demand for the higher-priced phone exceeded the company’s expectations and its production could not keep up.