LG Elec takes on Lenovo, Asus in foldable laptop race

LG Electronics Inc. will join the race to lead the emerging foldable laptop market, currently led by foreign notebook majors Lenovo Ltd. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (Asus), with its version fitted with a 17-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel.  

The South Korean electronics giant announced on Monday that its first-ever foldable laptop, LG Gram Fold, will be available on store shelves from Wednesday of next week.

The foldable laptop is a notebook equipped with a foldable screen, built upon mobile phone flexible display technology like that used in Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip.  

Beijing-based Lenovo introduced the world’s first foldable laptop in 2020 under the brand of the X1 Fold, followed by the Zenbook 17 Fold by Taiwanese consumer laptop leader Asus two years later. Earlier this month, HP unveiled its own under the name of the Spectre Fold.

Market observers will be watching closely to see if Korea’s first-ever foldable PC will boost the fledgling foldable laptop market, still grappling with unaddressed technical issues.

While boasting an innovative form factor, foldable laptops are not without their problems.

Like foldable phones, their screens are crease-prone due to repeated folding and unfolding, which directly affects their durability. Their price tags are much higher than regular laptops despite their similar general specifications.

LG Electronics claims its foldable laptop is capable of 30,000 folding cycles like the Asus Zenbook Fold.

The LG Gram Fold will be available for 4.99 million won ($3,740) or 3.99 million won with all perks included.

LG DISPLAY PANEL

Panels used in the LG Gram Fold are provided by LG Display Co., LG Electronics’ display-making unit.

The laptop's maximum screen size is 17 inches when stretched and 12 inches when folded. It is powered by the QXGA+ touch OLED display, boasting a resolution of 1,920 by 2,560.  

The LG Gram Fold weighs about 1,250 grams although it has a large 72-watt-hour (Wh) battery.

It comes with an embedded onscreen keyboard for use in the folded form and a Bluetooth detachable keyboard for those who prefer physical keyboards.

The LG foldable laptop is also powered by the 13th Gen Intel Core processor and the latest low-power memory chips.

Its users will enjoy rich sound with the Dolby Atmos sound system, the Korean electronics company said.

It can fold in half to be used like a book and can be expanded for both horizontal and vertical use like an all-in-one PC monitor.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.