November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is considering adopting a pressure-sensitive display technology, more widely known as force touch or 3-D touch, for its next flagship smartphones, including the upcoming Galaxy S8, multiple industry sources told The Investor on Nov. 14.

“Samsung is mulling to adopt the force touch technology partially from the S8 but the full adoption qill come in one or two years,” an official of a Samsung supplier on condition of anonymity. 

“It is a matter of time before other major Android smartphone makers deploy the technology that will help enhance user interface.”

The force touch technology detects different strengths of press on the screen, allowing users to zoom in photos or to create app shortcuts without opening them.

Huawei’s Mate S, launched on Sept. 2 last year, was the first smartphone to adopt the technology. Apple has also unveiled the feature from the iPhone 6s last year.

Considering Samsung Display, a display-making unit of Samsung Electronics, is a key supplier of the force touch displays to Huawei, the Korean tech giant is highly likely to adopt the display on its own, sources said.

A senior executive at Samsung’s component division who wished to be unnamed also confirmed the company was working on the force touch technology for the adoption “in the near future.”

In April last year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung’s electronic parts business affiliate, registered related patents with the local patent office.

In the meantime, Google, the operator of the Android OS that dominates with almost 90 percent of the smartphone OS market, has also added a new force touch-based feature, called the App Shortcuts, to its latest Android Nougat 7.1 operating system.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)