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Did Samsung just out its folding Galaxy phone?

Whatever the "SM-G888N0" is, it popped up on Samsung's Korean website.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
2 min read
Sarah Tew/CNET

We've been hearing whispers about a foldable Galaxy phone for quite some time, and now we may have another piece of the puzzle.

Samsung's Korean website now lists a phone with the model number SM-G888N0. We don't know much about it, but this is the same model number that's previously been linked to the company's folding phone, nicknamed the Galaxy X.

samsung-sm-g888n0-listing

The phone's model number has a landing page on the Samsung website.

Screenshot via Gordon Gottsegen/CNET

The SM-G888N0 code number has appeared a few times before and has been certified for Bluetooth, as well as by the Wi-Fi Alliance. This gives us more than just a passing impression that the SM-G888N0 refers to a real phone. The listing on the Samsung website indicates that whatever it is, it's coming soon.

A Samsung folding phone isn't just a fantasy. Samsung Mobile's chief DJ Koh previously revealed that its folding phone could come as soon as 2018, and, well, 2017 is almost over. Hopefully that means we'll start hearing more about this mystery device in the near future -- perhaps with a prototype at CES in January or Mobile World Congress at the end of February.

Samsung is also rumored to be working on its next Galaxy S phone, the Galaxy S9. Since Samsung usually launches its next-generation Galaxy S in late February (at MWC) or sometimes in March, it'll be interesting to see how and where the SM-G888N0 comes into play, if it does at all.

Watch this: It's inevitable: Samsung will build a phone with a foldable display

Some reports claim that the "N0" ending in the phone's model number may indicate a limited release in South Korea. This chimes with previous reports that the folding phone may receive a limited initial release. That's what happened with Samsung's first attempt at a curved-screen phone, the Galaxy Round.

With other "beyond the touchscreen" concept phones such as the folding ZTE Axon M already on the market, we're excited to see what Samsung's folding phone will finally look like.

Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.