technology

Foldable Samsung phone for 2018 could have a folding display

Samsung is full steam ahead on making a foldable Galaxy phone. Although it isn't clear if that means the screen itself could fold -- there are other ways to make a phone "foldable" --  we now know that foldable displays are a major part of Samsung's mobile strategy.

The company said in its earnings report on Wednesday that it's developing foldable displays, one of the components that could be used in a phone that folds up. 

"As for the Mobile business, Samsung will continue its efforts to differentiate its smartphones by adopting cutting-edge technologies, such as foldable OLED displays."

That was the third time Samsung mentioned foldable OLED displays in its earning call. This is clearly an area of interest for Samsung, and a way it plans to pull ahead of Apple and other phonemakers.

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Foldable displays seem to differ from flexible displays, which Samsung already uses in phones with curved screens like the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. Flexible displays can curve and bend, but don't currently fold. What Samsung is describing now is new technology. A foldable display in a foldable phone seems like the most logical fit. 

Samsung didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the foldable display will be used in its foldable phone.

Foldable phones are a hot topic in the phone world, with years of development and what-if concept pieces popping up from time to time. Foldable phones could increase a device's usable screen space while keeping its physical footprint small, and shake up a design that's grown stale.  

Samsung wouldn't be the first to make a foldable phone. If it succeeds, you can thank ZTE, a Chinese company that released the Axon M late last year. That device has two screens that fold open on a hinge like a mini tablet or book. With this feature, it can do unique things like combine the two screens into one big display or use them separately to multitask.

Samsung has submitted a patent for a similar phone design that opens and folds. It also applied for a different patent where the screen can fold in on itself. This second design would support the foldable OLED panel that Samsung says it's working on.

Read next: All the reasons you might want a foldable Samsung Galaxy phone

Another good read: If foldable phones catch on, you can thank these guys

Samsung enters crypto-currency chips business

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Samsung aims to benefit from rising demand for the equipment needed to underpin crypto-currencies

Samsung Electronics has revealed it is making chips designed specifically to harvest crypto-currency coins.

The firm made the disclosure in its latest earnings report, where it said the activity should boost its profits.

The report also confirmed that the South Korean company overtook Intel to become the biggest chipmaker last year.

And it forecast strong demand for its forthcoming Galaxy S9 smartphone, which is due to be revealed on 25 February.

Samsung Electronic's fourth quarter net profit totalled 12.3tn won ($11.5bn; £8.1bn), which was roughly in line with analysts' expectations.

But its shares jumped nearly 9% after the company revealed that it was splitting its stock 50-to-1, which should encourage trade in the asset.

Asic's advantage

For now, Samsung is providing little detail about its new crypto-currency business.

"Samsung's foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of crypto-currency mining chips," it said in a statement given to the BBC.

"However we are unable to disclose further details regarding our customers."

Mining, in this context, refers to solving complex mathematical problems as a means to verify crypto-currency transactions - a task for which the owners of the computers involved are rewarded with new digital tokens or "coins".

The Bell, a Korean-language newspaper, has reported that the processors involved are Asic (application-specific integrated circuit) chips.

These are chips that are custom-designed to carry out a single task - in this case "mining" Bitcoin or another specific crypto-currency - but not general computing operations.

Until 2013, Asic chips were more commonly associated with the TV industry.

But that year, a New York-based entrepreneur began selling processors custom-designed for Bitcoin mining, which promised better performance and lower energy use than GPU (graphics processing unit) chips, which are still more commonly associated with the task.

In recent months, a shortage of high-end GPU cards has pushed up their prices, making the rival Asic technology even more appealing.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Most mining rigs currently use GPUs rather than Asic chips

According to The Bell, Samsung completed development of its own Bitcoin-related Asic chip last year and began mass production earlier this month.

Until now, Taiwan's TSMC was the only other major processor-manufacturer engaged in the activity.

One expert said Samsung's move represented a bet that Bitcoin's rise in value does not represent a bubble that is about to burst.

"We don't know how low Samsung can sell its chip for and still be profitable," said Garrick Hileman, a crypto-currency researcher from the University of Cambridge.

"But if Bitcoin's price were to collapse and enter a bear market like in 2014 to 2015, one would wonder if Samsung would stay with this line of business through such a turn."

Taking top spot

Samsung's latest venture coincided with news that its semiconductors division logged 74.3tn won ($69.6bn; £49.1bn) of sales last year.

That compares with a figure of $62.8bn reported by Intel last week.

It marks the first time the US firm has not occupied the top spot since 1992, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Samsung has benefited from demand for its chips in both its own and rivals' mobile devices

Much of Samsung's success is down to the popularity of its memory chips - it highlighted demand from the computer server and mobile device storage markets in particular.

Intel is hoping to increase its own market share in the sector by offering a new proprietary memory technology called 3D Xpoint, which it began selling last year.

However, it risks being distracted by the need to redesign its processor chips after a flaw with their current architecture was recently revealed.