Samsung To Launch Smartphone With Under-the-display Front Camera: Report

Samsung Electronics will launch a smartphone next year that will have its front facing camera be completely under the display, South Korean media reports.

The company will use a similar procedure to the one currently applied to the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10, where the front screen has a hole located at the top of the display for the front camera, reports The Elec.

For this new development, there will be a transparent display instead of a hole that will be placed on top of the front camera, according to the report.

Samsung Display, which supplies the mobile OLED display panels for Samsung Electronics, is planning to install designated equipment, dubbed HIAA2, at one its factories that will be specifically dedicated to the under-display innovation next month, the report said.

HIAA stands for hole-in-active-area and the equipment uses lasers to cut the hole in the display. HIAA1 equipment is currently used to make the hole-in-displays that were commercialised by Samsung earlier this year.

Samsung will either apply the new technology first on the Galaxy S11 or the successor of the Galaxy Fold, the report added.

The company's overall profits dropped 56% for the third quarter compared to a year ago, but its mobile business is expected to have return to form despite lower-than-expected results in the previous quarter thanks to the launch of the Galaxy Note 10.

Last week, Samsung Display also announced that it would invest $11 billion into the development and commercialisation of QD displays over the next five years. The new display aimed at TVs is expected to begin production in 2021 and it is the company's attempt to overcome its dependence on mobile OLEDs.

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