SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A new patent application from Samsung Electronics is fueling speculation about a new foldable phone that is expected to be released next year.
According to sources close to the IT media and the South Korean company, Samsung filed a patent application earlier this month with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), under the name ‘flexible electronic device’.
Descriptions of the new foldable phone in the patent application explain how interest in electronic devices with foldable screens is growing, and mention how the new device uses multi-joint hinges to enable one side of the phone to be folded.
Newly unveiled sketches of Samsung’s new foldable phone show the device might come in a long and straight shape like when a flip phone is open.
Many speculate that the technology outlined in the patent could be adopted in the making of a smartphone, coupled with flexible OLED displays, to create a foldable phone with two screens, one on each side.
“Right now, we are overcoming some issues. When the technical problems are completely solved, we’ll release a foldable phone,” Go Dong-jin, a senior official at Samsung said during a press conference in September.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)