The last time Donald Trump was in office, Huawei had a… rather unpleasant time. Samsung is reportedly preparing to sidestep any difficulties that arise as a result of the incoming American president’s Chinese tariff policies by changing the way its foldable phones are made.
The report, by way of The Elec, claims that Samsung is making design changes to its range of foldable smartphones. This will reduce the amount of titanium, a product largely imported from China, contained in the devices.
Samsung’s glass cannon
Samsung is considering changing the backplane, an internal structure separating a folding smartphone’s screen and hinge, from various metals to glass. The component, apparently called Internal Hinge at the South Korean company’s headquarters, is a bit of a bugger to manufacture. Making them from glass will only complicate matters further.
The design choice doesn’t appear solely driven by fears that Chinese titanium will be harder to safely procure. Samsung’s Galaxy Flip 6 uses something called Steel Use Stainless, the Fold 6 uses reinforced plastic, and the company’s Galaxy Fold SE uses titanium. All of these are being swapped out with glass, just as soon as it can be pulled off.
Which won’t be next year, according to the report. We could see the internal changes as soon as 2026 and there’s one other reportedly in the works. Samsung is looking to change the way its stylus is recognised by screens, potentially allowing it to trim its folding phone lineup’s physical dimensions.
It may well be that glass backplanes are being considered for design reasons as well as potential geopolitical ones. Competitor devices are being made thinner than the South Korean giant has previously offered — its titanium-fitted Galaxy Fold SE was an answer to those models — but it may be that thinner Galaxy smartphones are inbound across the board.