Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics will reportedly start testing the prototype for its dual-screen smartphone soon. Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

Barely two weeks since Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, it is now being reported that the South Korea giant is preparing for its foldable phone. The latest word from industry sources claims that Apple’s biggest rival will commence testing the prototype for the handset that’s tentatively called Galaxy X.

On Tuesday, The Investor received word from industry sources saying that Samsung Electronics will likely begin testing the prototype for a dual-screen phone. This is said to be the preliminary version of the foldable handset that Samsung is planning to launch in the near future.

The prototype that is being considered as of late has a foldable design. The device basically has two separate OLED panels that are connected with a hinge. The hinge will make it possible for the phone to be folded open to 180 degrees.

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Within the first half of this year, Samsung expects to build around 2,000 to 3,000 units of the dual-screen prototype. In fact, sources have shared that the company has already placed orders for components to come up with the estimated number of prototypes.

One industry source specifically shared that Samsung is at this point planning to test the waters with the dual-screen prototype. Should this work out, all ideas that it will learn during the testing period will be used in the creation of its foldable phone.

Samsung’s work on its foldable phone is dubbed Project Valley. The main goal of this project is for the manufacturer to create a single flexible display panel that can be bent and folded, according to Android Headlines.

While Samsung is going to be hard at work in testing the dual-screen prototypes in the coming months, it is unlikely for the company to launch this device to the public. What consumers will see in the future is the foldable device that Samsung really intends to commercially release. Reports previously stated that the foldable phone will arrive in late 2017, but this has already been pushed back to 2018.