Although a little late, Google does not seem to want to miss Samsung and Huawei, which has launched a fold-up smartphone this year. The US technology giant has reportedly registered a patent related to the device.
Google makes a WIPO patent with the name ‘Foldable Neutral Axis Management With Thin, High Modulus Layer’ with a registration number US20180356859, as shown on the patentscope.wipo.int page.
The patent abstract mentions a foldable display using an OLED panel.
Based on the pictures provided by The Verge, Google will use folding shell-shaped design, not a smartphone model design folded like a book like that used by Huawei and Samsung.
Samsung and Huawei’s folding screen smartphones will turn into tablets if opened like a book. Google’s patent image shows they prepared a ‘Z’ fold.
Google admitted that it would be difficult to make Z folds, but they said they already had a solution so that tablets could be folded into cellphones in this way.
Although they have registered their patents for folding screen smartphone technology, it does not mean that Google will realise the plan in the near future.
Until now, Google has not announced its plans to make a folding screen smartphone.