Rivals keep keen eye on Samsung’s curve appeal

BARCELONA, Spain ― With early reviews gushing over Samsung’s new flagship smartphone Galaxy S6 and its Edge variant, keen attention is being paid to the novel curved display that is rounded on both sides.

The curved design allows users to see alerts illuminating off a flat surface, even when the device is screen-side down. Users can also color-code specific contacts to know who is calling or texting by how the notifications flash.

Opinions are still mixed about the functionality of the “dual-edged” screen, but the unique styling and its aesthetic appeal are on everyone’s lips at the Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry’s largest gathering held in Barcelona this week. 

Handset-makers, in particular, seem to be gauging the marketability of Samsung’s new phone whose official release is scheduled for April 1.

“It is very difficult to say if we have a plan to make such a smartphone (the S6 Edge),” said Li Qing, an official from the European marketing division of China’s ZTE.

“If the S6 Edge is well received in the market, then we may develop that kind of phone.”

She predicted that all other smartphone manufacturers would follow suit if the Edge saw high sales. “That is how things work in the smartphone industry.”
 

Samsung has said the Edge, along with its S6 sibling, took smartphones to the next level as they come equipped with the best technologies existing in the industry, including a 14-nanoclass 64-bit mobile processor, advanced memory chips and optimal camera solutions.

Other companies like Microsoft and Asus also left room for their own versions of smartphones with a curved display.

“We have not announced any plans for curved-screen smartphones at this year’s event, but in the future, who knows?” said a Microsoft official at the company’s booth at the exhibition hall, declining to be named.

China’s Xiaomi, which is not participating in the MWC, is also rumored to be preparing for its dual-curved smartphone Arch, allegedly mimicking the Galaxy Note 4 Edge with its single curved edge on the right. The Arch is expected to be unveiled during the 2016 International CES in January.

By Kim Young-won, Korea Herald correspondent 
(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)