Samsung’s next foldable phone won’t have S Pen

Samsung Electronics has decided not to offer S Pen on its upcoming foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold 2, sources within the company told TheElec Tuesday.

It is because the development of a cover glass that can both withstand folding and the pressure from a stylus is yet to be completed, they said. 

Cover glass on the screen must become thinner to accommodate the folding but this reduces its durability.

Currently, Samsung is using ultrathin glass (UTG) for the cover glass for its foldable phones. The cover glass of the Galaxy Z Flip was 30 micrometers in thickness. By comparison, the Galaxy Note 10’s cover window __ Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 __ had a thickness between 0.4 to 1.2 millimeters.

Samsung has considered multiple ways to make a cover glass that can handle both folding and a stylus. It considered a thicker cover glass with only the folded part being thinner. It also researched the use of polyimide films. None of these methods were considered sufficient to introduce the S Pen with the Galaxy Fold 2, the sources said. Launching of a model that can fold with a stylus has been pushed back to next year, they added.

The South Korean tech giant is expected to launch Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G in August. If it could develop the right cover glass in time, it considered launching another foldable model __ most likely the Galaxy Fold 2 __ with a stylus in the fourth quarter.

Galaxy Fold 2 will have a 7.7-inch screen, larger than the Galaxy Fold’s 7.3-inch. The Galaxy Z Flip 5G will be same as the Galaxy Z Flip in specs with the addition of a 5G modem chip.

The Galaxy Z Flip is selling well, and itching close to the 2.5 million units Samsung is aiming for this year. The company is producing 250,000 units per month of the model.

For its entire foldable line-up, Samsung is aiming to ship between 4.5 million to 5 million units by the end of the year.