The foldable smartphones from different brands have been available to the public for a while now, and according to Samsung, they are quickly becoming mainstream. These devices, however, only fold once down the centre. What if they could fold twice, or thrice?
That is precisely what the South Korean manufacturer has been working towards. Foldable devices that can fold more than once will add a new level of versatility to mobile devices in terms of portability and multitasking on the go.
During the CES 2022 event earlier in the year, Samsung showed the world this concept of smartphones folding more than once with the Flex S and Flex G. Fast forward to September, and the company is seemingly moving forward with the concept phones after keen individuals spotted it has now trademarked the “Flex G” name in South Korea.
The “Flex G” trademark joins the “Flex S” trademark, which was secured by Samsung Display back in July 2021. Both names are categorized under the same classification at the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS).
There is also the Flex Note concept, which is an even bigger imagining of the multiple folding smartphones. Should it be viable, it might soon be the name that is trademarked at KIPRIS following the other two Flex devices.
It is hard to tell when these concept devices might move into consumer territory. Samsung is on record saying they will not be quick to release any new foldable variants into the market until the Galaxy Fold and the Flip become commonplace and well established.
Whether this has already happened can only be answered by Samsung. However, since their existing foldables cost upwards of Ksh 150,000, I shudder to think the kind of price tags multiple foldable smartphone-hybrid devices would demand.
Now, since Samsung Display is legally a different organization from Samsung Electronics, and it is the Display division that has so far showcased the Flex S and Flex G concepts in addition to securing the trademarks, Sammobile theorizes that Samsung might be planning to sell the foldable panels to different manufacturers instead of purely developing them for their own use.
Samsung selling their panels to different manufacturers is not exactly new and goes beyond the smartphone industry and into the TV space where they are among the biggest players. The panels used in iPhones, for instance, are sourced from Samsung.
How soon the panels find their way into consumers’ hands, whether via Samsung or a different manufacturer will be interesting to see. But most likely this will be after 2025 when Apple reveals their first foldable device opening the opportunity for Samsung to come out with another innovative product that is not available on the iOS ecosystem.
