Galaxy X render
An artist's render of the Galaxy X shows a wireless keyboard and stylus as added accessories for the foldable device GizmoChina

Samsung's plan of launching a foldable/bendable/flexible device has generated a lot of media hype over the last few years, but no real prototype has been showcased till date. An employee of the Korean electronics company now claims the rumoured device, dubbed as 'Galaxy X', may be a no show until 2019.

Kim Tae-woong, Samsung Display's principal engineer has revealed the company is currently focused on bezel-free displays as foldable displays developed by the company still have technical challenges to be addressed.

More from IBTimes UK

"Because the bezel-free display currently sells well, we still have enough time to develop foldable display. The technology is expected to be mature around 2019," he told the Korean Herald.

The latest revelation is contrary to various rumours that have surfaced in the past few months, which said that Samsung would showcase the device prototype if not launch a commercial version.

Some Korean media outlets like ET news had even claimed the Galaxy X would be announced close to Apple's iPhone 8 launch.

But the company has maintained that it will first test these flexible products among a smaller group of people to get feedback and then invest on retail manufacturing capacity.

Recently at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung held a secret conference for select marketers, traders and insiders to showcase its futuristic technology. The company, however, failed to show any flexible or bendable device prototype at the event.

Even among the flexible display models planned by Samsung, Kim says the single foldable phones are more likely to be unveiled first before multi-foldable phones. The one in the picture above is a prototype render for a multi-foldable phone/tablet.

Explaining why Samsung is choosing to delay this technology, Chung Won-seok, an analyst at HI Investment and Securities says, "Samsung Display is expected to commercialise foldable phones in 2019, because the company does not need to sell the new hardware as it is already enjoying 20% of operating profits with bezel-free display. Only when the demand for bezel-free handsets slows down, Samsung will unveil the foldable display as the next card."