Samsung Rumored to Launch First 'Rollable' Foldable Phone Later This Year

According to a reliable leaker, a third foldable device will likely feature a unique rollable form factor.

The rollable phone concept by Oppo X 2021.

According to a report, the company plans to ship over 10 million foldables in 2022, with successors to the Flip 3 and Fold 3, along with a third unnamed addition to its foldable.

The Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 are believed to be related to the B4 and Q4 code names that are being used internally for the models expected this year.

According to a mobile leaker namedUniverseIce, the third foldable device will be released in the second half of the year. The leaker believes that the codename of the new device is Diamond, and that it has a high probability of having a rollable form factor. Ross Young, a display analyst, said that he had heard that production of the device had been pushed out beyond 2022, and that he would now try to confirm if that was still an accurate assessment.

Rollable/slidable phones don't yet exist on the consumer market, but plenty of concept devices have been advertised by mobile makers as they search for the next big innovation in smartphone technology There is a case in point. It used a motorized powertrain mechanism to extend the screen uniformly, avoiding the appearance of folds in the display.

The first rollable phone that was expected to come to market was the Oppo X 2021, but it was never made available. A concept phone with a slideable display was shown off by the company, but it was not tied to a real consumer product launch.

Apple has patented rollable displays in the past. A patent attributed to Apple appeared on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in March 2020.

There is an Apple patent.

A flexible display that can be wrapped around one or more internal roller mechanisms allows the screen to expand. With the addition of the rollable display layers, a rigid section still holds printed circuit boards and electronic components.

According to the patent, longated bistable support members may run along the edges of the display or may be overlapped by a central active area of the display to help stiffen and support the display in its extended position.

As with all Apple patents, there is no indication that Apple has plans to bring such a device to market, but it is interesting to see what sorts of future solutions Apple is eyeing as it seeks to innovate beyond current consumer-use technologies and compete with future generations of devices with hybrid