Seoul - Samsung Electronics will
create an all-screen front for the Galaxy S8 smartphones coming out next year
and scrap the physical home button, people with direct knowledge of the matter
said.
The bezel-less
displays will provide more viewing real estate while a virtual home button will
be buried in the glass in the lower section, the people said, asking not to be
identified because the details haven’t been released. The new phones will only
come with wraparound displays using organic light-emitting diode technology,
the people said.
Samsung
needs the Galaxy S8 to be a hit after suffering through the Note 7 debacle that
tarnished its brand, led to an embarrassing recall and may cost the company
more than $6 billion. The world’s biggest smartphone vendor is already under
pressure from Chinese vendors while Apple is said to be planning to adopt OLED
screens, which are thinner and use less power than liquid-crystal screens while
also offering deeper colours.
While
Samsung is targeting a March release of the S8, that could be delayed until
April, the people said. Samsung is adopting tougher testing procedures in the
wake of the Note 7 debacle that could push back the launch by about a month,
one of the people said.
Read also: Gloom falls over Samsung
“Since the
phones have a record of burning up, it needs time for these phones to be
verified as safe. How safe the phones turn out to be is more important than any
hardware innovation,’’ said Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities
Co. “It will take about a month or two for people to actually start opening
their pockets,” he said.
Samsung
declined to comment.
Shares gain
Shares of
Samsung rose 1 percent to 1 790 000 won at the close of trade in Seoul.
For years,
manufacturers have been seeking ways to reduce the size of bezels - which frame
the screen and typically provide space for speakers, buttons and cameras -
to make smartphones smaller while increasing the size of their displays.
Samsung
isn’t the first to do away with the feature. In October, China’s Xiaomi
showed off its Mi Mix concept phone developed with designer Philippe Starck
that has a display covering 91 percent of the front.
Samsung has
built a physical home button into every previous model in the Galaxy S range.
Apple moved to a pressure-sensitive home button with the iPhone 7 that provides
a vibrating sensation when pressed instead of an actual click.
Read also: What to do with a Samsung Note 7
Apple plans
to ship at least one iPhone using OLED next year, featuring a new look that
extends glass from the display to the device’s back and edges, a person
familiar with the plan said last month. It’s also said to plan a virtual home
button.
The changes
to Samsung’s screens will be housed in devices of a similar size to the
preceding model, the 5.1-inch S7 and 5.5-inch S7 Edge, the people said. Some of
the phones will use Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon 835 chips while others will
feature Samsung’s own Exynos processors, the people said.
Digital assistant
Samsung
also plans to introduce an upgraded digital assistant that will use voice
commands to send text messages, make phone calls and provide daily appointment
scheduling. The Suwon, South Korea-based company acquired US-based
artificial-intelligence software company Viv Labs Inc. in October and said last
month that its new S8 will come with AI-enabled features “significantly
differentiated” from those in the market. Viv was founded by the developers of
Apple’s Siri.
Read also: Samsung kills Note 7
In the
three months ended September, Samsung reported a 17 percent slump in net income
from the impact of the Note 7 recall. The company has predicted a multibillion
dollar hit to earnings in the December and March quarters as well.
The company
is considering scrapping plans for a dual-camera on the S8 due to higher
manufacturing costs, one of the people said.
BLOOMBERG