If one fold is good, two are better. That seems to be the thinking at Samsung’s R&D department, whose engineers are reportedly hard at work on a dual-hinge phone from the Galaxy Fold series. According to a Nikkei business report, Samsung is studying the dual-hinge design and hopes to release it by the end of 2021. This is in addition to new versions of Samsung’s existing foldable designs, the large Galaxy Z Fold and the Galaxy clamshell. Z Flip.
Patents already granted by Samsungfeaturing a larger foldable phone with a three-layer folded position is supposed to be the backbone of this work. According to the report, Samsung is viewing foldable devices as a new and usable market for former buyers of its high-end Galaxy Note series, which has long been rumored to be a stumbling block for sharing too much market space with the premium Galaxy S. Samsung has already told investors that does not plan to issue bonds this year.
Note: the picture above is quick and dirty photoshop illustration. No leaked images of the double hinge design.
Nikkei cites several anonymous sources inside Samsung and the larger mobile industry in South Korea. The goal appears to be to create a larger tablet-sized device at full enlargement with an aspect ratio of around 16: 9, ideal for most video content and requiring less specialized work on the part of app developers. The Galaxy Z Fold series uses more square folding screens, which significantly increase the area, but is not suitable for some videos and games.
Since all of the information provided in the report is anonymous and even so is based on the success of internal development programs under development, it is possible that none of this will happen. But Samsung will not be the first company to create a triple folding screen, but only the first to bring it to the mass market. Such a device will almost certainly become the company’s flagship model, a status symbol with a corresponding price tag.
