Jacob’s Ladder
Back before the internet, and even before electricity, kids had toys. Maybe they were not particularly sophisticated by today’s standards, but you work with what you have, and endless hours were spent playing with what were mostly wooden toys. There was one that was quite popular and was even written up in the 1889 issue of Scientific American called the Jacob’s Ladder, a simple toy made of thin blocks of wood and ribbons that looked like each block was descending down the chain when held. The toy was actually an illusion, as the blocks only reversed sides and did not move, but the effect, at the time, was astounding.
Jacob's ladder - Source: Teach Beside Me.com
At a recent exhibition in South Korea, Samsung Display (pvt) showed a version of what is likely a prototype of a potential foldable product slated for 2022 or 2023 that we have written about a number of times going back to 3/20/2018 (below) when SDC filed the initial patent, a number of times as further designs were revealed, and most recently in May of this year when SDC showed an earlier prototype. In the most current version, the display is larger (7.2”), closer to a tablet than a phone and while the 35 second video (ctl-click here) shows little about how flexible the device is or how thick it is when closed, it does show a bit about how the display software works, adapting the image to a variety of formats that single out sections of the device or make it into a continues single image that can scroll across the device.
Much of the development work behind this device seems to have been completed, which leads us to our conclusion that this will eventually become a viable foldable product with timing more likely set by marketing and production capabilities than technology limitations. At least from our perspective it seems that SDC has realized that a tri-fold smartphone, given its fully folded thickness, might be a difficult sale relative to the almost paper thin devices currently available, but as a tablet, which would normally be more of a work device and typically carried rather than pocketed, the tri-fold concept makes more sense. We have noted other tri-fold demos, such as the TCL (000100.CH) device we noted in a 12/23/2019 note (see Fig. 5), similar tri-fold demos from LG Display (LPL) and Visionox (002387.CH), and even a 2014 demo from Semiconductor Energy Lab (pvt) in Japan, but have yet to see an actual product, although it seems SDC is getting close(r).
Much of the development work behind this device seems to have been completed, which leads us to our conclusion that this will eventually become a viable foldable product with timing more likely set by marketing and production capabilities than technology limitations. At least from our perspective it seems that SDC has realized that a tri-fold smartphone, given its fully folded thickness, might be a difficult sale relative to the almost paper thin devices currently available, but as a tablet, which would normally be more of a work device and typically carried rather than pocketed, the tri-fold concept makes more sense. We have noted other tri-fold demos, such as the TCL (000100.CH) device we noted in a 12/23/2019 note (see Fig. 5), similar tri-fold demos from LG Display (LPL) and Visionox (002387.CH), and even a 2014 demo from Semiconductor Energy Lab (pvt) in Japan, but have yet to see an actual product, although it seems SDC is getting close(r).
Samsung's Triple Folding Smartphone Concept - Open - Source: USPO
Samsung Tri-Fold Smartphone - Source: USPO
Samsung Tri-Fold Smartphone Prototype - Source: Samsung Display
TCL Triple-fold demo - Source: CNET
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