The first Samsung Galaxy Fold: Ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event, know the spectacular story

tech.hindustantimes.com:

The first decade of the 21st century was a time when smartphone design innovation was probably at its peak. We saw companies releasing conceptually bold smartphones, and the focus was always on making them stand out. The era gave us some of the most iconic devices such as the Samsung Corby with its slide-out keyboard, the Nokia 7600 - the square phone - and the iconic Motorola Razr V3 - the flip phone. And while most of these designs were forgotten with the advancement of technology and streamlined design aesthetics, the flip phone created a frenzy that smartphone makers could really not let go of.

In the 2010s, as touchscreens became mainstream, companies began playing with the idea of folding phones, with the focus at that time still being on adding an extra display. From Nokia, Kyocera, to China's ZTE, and Japan's NEC, all previewed their own take on the fad. But none of the smartphones were really focusing on a single display that can be folded, and instead just added a separate screen with the help of a hinge. So close, yet so far.

It was not till 2018 when OLED displays came to the fore, that smartphone makers could really envisage what we call a modern folding smartphone. In November 2018, Royole, a China-based company, became the first to commercially launch a folding smartphone, although it had an outlandish design where it folded outwards, and didn't really catch on.

But just three months later, everything changed as Samsung became the first major smartphone player to announce its own foldable called the Samsung Galaxy Fold during its media event at Mobile World Congress in February 2019. And with its inward-folding smartphone that had a single seamless OLED display, the design became an instant hit.

But it was not