A patent filed by Samsung confirms the intention of the manufacturer to offer a foldable smartphone that takes the same principle as the Huawei Mate X. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, it would fold outward.
As Futura explained recently, at Samsung, the Galaxy Fold is only the first model in a range of three foldable smartphones. For one of them, the Bloomberg website said it would be a folding mobile similar to Huawei Mate X. Information that could be confirmed by a patent that was published on January 24, 2019, with WIPO, the world body managing intellectual property. Noticed by the Letsgodigital site, this patent describes a fairly compact foldable screen apparatus.
Its housing is composed of three elements: two parts connected to the center of the mobile by a flexible segment. It is thus possible to fold down a shutter, or both, to obtain the same result as with the Huawei Mate X, that is to say, a smartphone that folds outwards. The advantage is that, like the Mate X, the mobile will be thinner without the third screen found on the Galaxy Fold. At the back of the mobile, a small cleat to lock the mobile tablet mode.
A third foldable clamshell approach
It was a surprising decision by Samsung that this method was the least relevant. What is even more amazing is that in reality, Samsung would have hesitated to release this mobile before the Galaxy Fold.
According to Samsung’s own admission to IDC, no one knows what will be the ideal design for a foldable smartphone. For now, it’s about experimenting. The manufacturer is aware that many of these models will not be successful. For him, these failures will help to find the right compromise.
In other words, it is the users who will wipe the plasters. Moreover, in terms of collapsible screens, Samsung could unveil a second model in late 2019 or early 2020. It would be a clamshell model, as the Motorola Razr but with a foldable screen. For its part, Lenovo owner of the brand could just resuscitate the famous Razr on the same principle.