A new report originating out of Korea suggests that Samsung has already placed orders for the necessary components to manufacture around 2,000-3,000 prototype units of its foldable smartphone in the first half of the year.

Dubbed Galaxy X, the prototype of the handset can be folded 180 degrees and features two OLED displays that are connected with a hinge in the middle.

By doing a small trial production run, Samsung wants to test the waters with its foldable dual-display device and see what kind of yield issues and other production issues it will face while mass producing a foldable device on a large scale.

“Samsung seems to be testing the waters with the dual-screen device to gather ideas about its upcoming foldable phone,” an industry source said on condition of anonymity.

Samsung has been working closely with Samsung Display to speed up research and work on the Galaxy X so that the company is able to roll out a limited batch of the handset later this year.

Previous reports from Korea from earlier this year also claimed that Samsung is aiming to produce thousands of foldable smartphone prototypes this year. With Samsung working on its foldable smartphone project at full force, it is likely that we will see a limited launch of the device within the next year.