Samsung Galaxy S IV coming with unbreakable screen in April?

by Mark Tyson on 6 December 2012, 16:30

Tags: Samsung (005935.KS), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabp4j

Add to My Vault: x

The next generation flagship smartphone from Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy S IV, is scheduled for launch as soon as April according to Reuters sources. Among the usual incremental upgrades in processing power, screen pixel density and camera sensor megapixels an unusual breakthrough development may feature – an “unbreakable screen”.

The unbreakable screen

UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois told Reuters that “Looking to the first half of 2013, we see evidence of Samsung likely accelerating the release of the Galaxy S IV - compared with May (this year) for the Galaxy S III”, he continued and talked about the screen “We believe preparations for volume manufacturing of unbreakable plastic substrate displays continue”. Further to the unbreakable qualities another analyst, Mark Newman, at Stanford Bernstein Hong Kong said “Eventually, they'll have unbreakable and flexible displays. Either the Galaxy S IV or S V will have unbreakable and even possibly flexible and foldable displays by 2014. That's going to be a game-changer”.

My favourite S IV mock-up from the www

Why is an unbreakable screen so important? Will this unbreakable quality make a big difference to sales and competiveness against the iPhone, for example? To answer the first question I looked at some figures for iPhone repair. Time magazine recently published an article saying an amazing $6 billion has been spent on iPhone repairs since 2007. The most common issue was something was broken due to the iPhone being dropped; very often that was the screen. The second most common problem was again due to being dropped but this time into liquid...

The other rumoured upgrades

The Samsung Galaxy S IV is rumoured to have the following upgraded components in addition to the aforementioned unbreakable screen; a bigger 1080p display with an improved pixel density of about 440 ppi, a 13-megapixel camera and a quad core processor, perhaps bumped a little bit past that of the Galaxy Note II.

Launch date jiggery pokery

The April launch date speculation isn’t as soon as we had heard predicted in September from a source speaking to The Korea Times. That story predicted the new flagship Galaxy S IV would be introduced at the Mobile World Congress, in February 2013. That or April will give Samsung a bit of time to sell a few million before the iPhone 6 hits us in June 2013... But what about the iPhone 5S that’s being talked about all over the place now, just because someone has pictured an iPhone 5 case with the screw holes in slightly different positions? Is that Apple’s planned fly in Samsung’s ointment? As usual with the rumour stories, time will tell.



HEXUS Forums :: 32 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
But will it blend?
haha most things blend if you have a big enough blender xD. On a serious not though, I think I just found my next phone if this turns out to be true!
While impressive, these will be expensive on release, so I'll aim to get a cheap S3 which are falling in price quite a bit at the moment. I reckon about Feb/March there should be some very good deals to be had. I can finally rid myself of this HTC Wildfire, not sure whether to sell it or blow it up yet based on the suffering it has caused me….
4.7“ is quite big enough for a normal phone display, going bigger again just for the sake of 1080p is getting a little silly.
The 4.3” 720p screen on my sony does the trick for me.

It does look insanely thin, wonder if they can still fit a micro usb port on it.
Also wouldn't fancy car mounting that either
Is it also “unscratchable”?