Upcoming 2019 Trade Show Season in the USA

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Figure 9: Royole’s FlexPai phone.

The weeks before CES are always packed with rumors of what will be launched, announced, shown, or promised, and this year is no exception. Already, and without breaking any embargos, we are hearing about foldable portable computers. These include a smartphone, but it seems that the goal is to provide a true fully portable and functional computer into a foldable, rollable, expandable, and pocketable device with cellphone capabilities being just a small part of its features (Figures 9 and 10).

One rumor that is fueling the anticipation of more advanced devices is talk of a possible partnership between Samsung and Microsoft. These rumors have persisted for the last few years, but appear to be gaining credibility with units such as the Surface Phone or the Centaurus being mentioned by name, and with preliminary pictures available (Figure 11). These may not be announced formally at CES, but I would expect there will be some kind of announcement this year. There are also others such as the ZTE Axon (Figure 12) and are more—way too many for some of them to be more than a leaked rumor, but we will see.

Figure 11: Microsoft’s Centaurus device.

Further, LG has announced that it plans to show off its first foldable phone during the upcoming CES (Figure 13). LG describes a flexible display that wraps around the frame entirely. This means that when folded, the device can be used just like a traditional smartphone curved display. It is reported that the rear folded portion of the display when not being used is automatically turned off in this position. Also, in preparation for the big reveal, LG has filed trademarks for some names that could be associated with a folding device (Figure 13). Moreover, Samsung has teased its upcoming Galaxy F smartphone. Could this be part of the rumored possible partnership with Microsoft?

Figure 12: ZTE Axon.

Lastly, LG and other companies such as Huawei should reveal their new contenders early in 2019, possibly at CES. One thing I would recommend is that if you are soon to be in the market for a new advanced portable device (formally called a smartphone), I would wait. Either there will be something new and amazing you will want, or the existing smartphone you have been considering will greatly drop in price.

Figure 13: LG foldable phone with a flexible display.

The official announcements do not start until January 6, which triggers almost two days of a press frenzy before the official opening of the show. We can expect the unconfirmed buzz to grow louder from now until then. The first two days are usually loaded with announcements, so stay tuned. We expect to report on as much as we can before the doors open. Welcome to 2019, and what promises to be an exciting time.

Further Reading: AWE 2018 Coverage by Dan Feinberg

1.  “AWE: Introducing the Augmented World Expo.” June 7, 2018.
2.  “The Augmented World Expo: “Go XR or Become Extinct.” June 13, 2018.
3.  “Seeing Clearly: XR Headsets and Flex’s Reference Design at AWE.” June 26, 2018.

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