Samsung Electronics is ahead of any other company in terms of foldable smartphones. To stay ahead of the competition, the South Korean tech behemoth has been patenting foldable devices in various sizes and forms. Just last week, a patent filed by the firm’s sister company Samsung Display was unearthed by LetsGoDigital. Now, the publication has spotted another patent filed by Samsung Electronics.
Foldable smartphones are said to be the next big thing in consumer electronics. They are already here but are out of reach for most people. Thankfully, they are expected to get cheaper in the coming years as the tech matures. In the meantime, companies like Samsung will continue to patent new designs.
The newly spotted foldable design patent was filed by Samsung Electronics with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) in April. It got approved and published on October 15 titled ‘Foldable electronic device including a plurality of camera modules’.
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The patent includes three different designs – two with an outward folding screen like the HUAWEI Mate Xs and one with an inward folding screen like the Galaxy Z Fold2.
However, all three of them have a cutout on the front display so that the cameras present inside can be used even when the phone is closed. Hence, the title includes the term plurality of camera modules.
Anyway, we don’t see Samsung ever implementing this design in a commercial product. The current-gen devices have already moved on to punch-holes. The notch on the original Galaxy Fold offers a less immersive experience and has app compatibility issues.
Since these newly patented designs also have to make a similar compromise with the display like on the company’s first commercially available foldable smartphone, we don’t think Samsung will ever implement them.
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