Samsung is reportedly speeding up development of a rollable smartphone, aiming to create a device that smoothly expands from compact to almost tablet-sized whenever you need it.
According to a recent report from South Korean outlet Maeil Business, Samsung Display is pushing hard on this technology. Their goal is to launch the first real commercial rollable phone in the first half of 2028, possibly alongside or as part of the Galaxy S28 series. It’s expected to be called the Galaxy Z Slide. Rumors also suggest it could feature a big 10-inch 16:9 display with around 440 pixels per inch. There’s even talk of a second model coming in 2030.
This move makes a lot of sense for Samsung. While they still dominate foldables, their share of foldable display panels has dropped noticeably, from about 41.8% in Q4 2025 to 27% in Q1 2026, according to Omdia. With more competition heating up, a rollable phone could be their way to reclaim the innovation spotlight and raise the technical bar.
Rollable screens are much trickier than foldables. The biggest challenge is making the display “roll” reliably hundreds or thousands of times without getting wavy, creased, or uneven. Everything, including the rollers, the layers inside the screen, and the supporting structure, has to be incredibly precise while staying thin and light enough for everyday use.
Samsung has been experimenting with this for years. Back at CES 2023, they showed off the Flex Hybrid (which combined folding and sliding), and later that year at SID Display Week, they wowed people with the Rollable Flex prototype, stretching a tiny 49mm screen all the way out to over 254mm. That’s more than five times bigger. Impressive stuff.
If it works well, a rollable phone could be a game-changer: small enough to slip in your pocket, but capable of turning into a near-tablet experience for watching videos, multitasking, or getting real work done, and hopefully without the visible crease you get on current foldables.
If Samsung can deliver a premium feel that justifies the expected high price, this could be the next big evolution in smartphone design. It’ll be really interesting to watch how this develops. The Galaxy Z Slide (or whatever they end up calling it) has the potential to change how we think about phone screens.
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