Samsung might do away with the flat-screen Galaxy S

Samsung’s curved “edge” display has certainly given a new lease of life to the company’s Galaxy S series of flagships. Not only does it produce a unique and sleek looking design, but Samsung has also managed to create a selection of useful software features that make the most of the hardware. Now the company is hinting that it may ditch the regular flat-screen option for its flagship smartphones in the future, in order to focus on its edge technology.

Demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge initially caught Samsung a little by surprise a couple of years ago, leaving the company scrambling to produce enough units and resulting in unsold stock of the regular flat-screen Galaxy S6. This time around, Samsung has been able to ramp up production of its dual-edge curved display for the Galaxy S7 Edge, and the Note 7 now comes exclusively with the curved display and has even dropped the edge moniker.

A similar situation could be heading to the company’s main Galaxy S range in the next year or so. Samsung has indicated that it will put more focus on curved Galaxy S models in the future and that it may eventually eliminate flat-screen Galaxy S handsets further down the line. Production yields for Samsung’s edge display are now high enough to keep up with demand, enough so that the company has been selling excess panels to rival smartphone manufacturers.

“Samsung has considered that it would make the edge display as the identity of the Galaxy S smartphone lineup if the company can provide consumers differentiated user experience through software and user-friendly functions”  – Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung’s mobile business

Although this might not happen in time for the Galaxy S8 next year, the current theory is that the Galaxy Note 7 is acting a gauge to see how well consumers react to only having the single display option to pick from. This may then influence the company’s decision to issue a single curved S flagship, although Koh’s comment is far from confirmation that the flat-screen display model will be eliminated any time soon.

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Where do you stand on the topic? Is Samsung’s curved display technology the future of the Galaxy flagship line, or does a regular flat-screen variant still appeal to you?