Samsung’s mobile chief Koh Dong-jin stepped back from his earlier remarks on foldable phones during a press briefing in Las Vegas prior to the Consumer Electronics Show.

Asked whether foldable phones would be launched this year, he said the firm is working hard to develop such phones.

“It is difficult to talk about the date of the launch now. We want to unveil the products properly but now seems a bit early,” he added.

In September last year, Koh said the firm was targeting to launch foldable phones in 2018. 

At the press briefing, Koh added, “We want to have a good reaction from customers once the phone is out in the market. But there are still durability issues that we need to address.”

However, he went on to say that he is set on developing such devices because it would have significant ramifications from the industry’s perspective.

Market interest in Samsung’s foldable phones has been rising in recent years, with speculations, concept images and videos of the so-called Galaxy X making the rounds every month.

The latest report came from ET News on Monday that Samsung is planning to start manufacturing its first foldable phone in November 2018 and that it would feature a massive, 7.3-inch organic light-emitting diode display.

Samsung is not the only firm developing foldable smartphones. Apple and LG Display are also reportedly developing foldable phones together.

Last month, Korean chemical firm SKC announced it would invest 85 billion won ($76 million) in transparent polyimide film with the aim of mass producing it in October next year. The transparent polyimide film is reportedly to be supplied to global and local display makers.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)