Samsung has pretty much established its presence in the segment of foldable smartphones. After a couple of years dominating this segment as the sole player, followed by a struggling Huawei, The Korean firm is finally seeing some competition, but that’s still limited to the Chinese market. To keep its domain, the company will keep bringing new technologies and improving its designs and foldable solutions. A new patent has emerged on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It suggests a very promising Galaxy Z Fold smartphone that goes way beyond what our expectations have been waiting for.
According to the patent application, the design of the foldable smartphone showcased by Samsung presented a double folding mechanism. The patent reveals the device has three parts that collapse to form a single-form layout. It’s something similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. However, it has an additional folding layer at the bottom. The main foldable display covers the outer layer of the upper panel and collapses in a Z-shaped layout.
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Alongside the double folding design with three parts. The patent also reveals what seems to be a bridge, similar to how the Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone had on one side. This bridge appears to host a USB Type C port for charging. The upper half of this bridge showcases a camera module that will either extend out of the phone or flip outward to enable the full, main camera module. That’s a very promising design that would be revolutionary in a real product. The triple-camera module that appears in the patent’s schematics, is subject to changes, of course.
There are many challenges between this concept and the reality
Despite the promising design and unique appeal, it’s hard to think that we’re close to seeing a product like this one, even for Samsung. There are still many challenges in a design like this that need to be surpassed. One of the main issues probably is durability. Having more parts that fold or move on a device will pose greater challenges to the durability of the devices. Samsung patent offers two layers for a double folding display, along with a camera and bridge part that is also to be taken into account.
However, having a patent does not mean that a product is close to coming. Samsung might be just securing the design from its rivals for use in the future. Some patents see the light of day, while others stay in limbo forever.
Companies are indeed trying to bring more folds to their smartphones, we already saw this from TCL but nothing has ever materialized into a commercial product.