Samsung teased a brand new form factor for folding-screen smartphones, and it’s quite interesting not to mention ambitious. You can see the brief teaser in the video above.
In short, Samsung appears to have put a new spin on the traditional flip phone. Instead of two separate parts connected by a visible hinge, the above video demonstrates a vertically-folding smartphone concept, which is entirely made up of one part. The body of the phone itself appears to be flexible, at least toward the center.
As interesting as the phone looks, there’s no guarantee that Samsung will turn this concept into a real smartphone. Even if they do, it might not look or function the same. It’s also worth noting that this is not necessarily the only foldable form factor Samsung is considering indeed, the company says it plans to explore a “range” of ideas.
Although Samsung didn’t want to commit to a production version, there’s certainly precedent for clamshell devices. The tech firm has been making China-focused flip phones for years, and this would just be a logical extension of that work. Whether or not it makes a clamshell foldable more widely available is another story. There’s certainly some interest in the category when Motorola has teased he prospect of a RAZR revival, but there’s no guarantee that Samsung will be so enthusiastic that it releases a clamshell worldwide. There are only so many people who want to slap their phone shut when they finish a call, you know.
