Will foldable form factors revolutionize the stagnant smartphone industry, helping global shipments rise again after a pretty bad year by opening up new multitasking possibilities and creating innovative use cases essentially endangering the existence of conventional tablets? Perhaps, but not right away. 

One of the main reasons why foldable mobile devices are unlikely to take off in their first generations is how few of these phones we expect to actually see in stores by the end of the year. Samsung, which has been famously working on the Galaxy Fold for the better part ...