Really Folded
As we noted in yesterday’s graphic, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is the leader in the foldable smartphone market, and that leadership continues into the foldable laptop/notebook market, an even newer subset of the overall mobile CE market. Along with these actual foldable products, Samsung and its display affiliate Samsung Display (pvt), have filed many patent applications for a slew of potential products that will continue to broaden the scope of foldables over the next few years, some of which we have taken a look at in our notes. That said, filing a patent application has little bearing on whether the device(s) shown in the IP will become actual products, as much IP is used to keep others from heading down a similar development path, but, some do get translated into viable products, so we try to keep an open mind and look at the ones that seem ultimately practical or, at the least, unusual.
On 02/07/2021 Samsung Electronics filed a patent application for a “Multi-Folding Electronic Device” with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), a United Nations agency that includes members from 93 countries (including the US and China) and has been administering international IP since 1967 and helps to connect IP systems from member countries to a global system (patentscope).
The patent shows a number of ‘embodiments’ or potential physical set-ups that look like a typical laptop in they have a screen and a keyboard, but then allows both the screen and the keyboard to be folded on hinges reducing the size of the device to 25% when closed. Extrapolating on such a device would allow for a typical 15.6” (diagonal) folded laptop to have a screen (unfolded) that is 7.65” tall and 27.2” wide, along with a similar size keyboard, which could then be folded into a 7.65” x 13.6” form, the same as a typical laptop, or, if you wanted to go in the other direction, a typical 15.6” laptop could be folded into a 7.65” x 6.8” rectangle, ¼ of the size when fully open, making it much easier to carry.
Most foldable laptops that exist currently either have a virtual keyboard that takes up the bottom of the screen when unfolded, reducing viewing real estate, or uses an attached keyboard that is separate from the device. Samsung’s patent allows for a real keyboard, something quite desirable for those who write rather than play games, and a large screen that could act as a virtual desktop. Of course, such a device would not be cheap, if it appeared at all, but would be quite practical in either configuration, which makes it notable in our view.
On 02/07/2021 Samsung Electronics filed a patent application for a “Multi-Folding Electronic Device” with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), a United Nations agency that includes members from 93 countries (including the US and China) and has been administering international IP since 1967 and helps to connect IP systems from member countries to a global system (patentscope).
The patent shows a number of ‘embodiments’ or potential physical set-ups that look like a typical laptop in they have a screen and a keyboard, but then allows both the screen and the keyboard to be folded on hinges reducing the size of the device to 25% when closed. Extrapolating on such a device would allow for a typical 15.6” (diagonal) folded laptop to have a screen (unfolded) that is 7.65” tall and 27.2” wide, along with a similar size keyboard, which could then be folded into a 7.65” x 13.6” form, the same as a typical laptop, or, if you wanted to go in the other direction, a typical 15.6” laptop could be folded into a 7.65” x 6.8” rectangle, ¼ of the size when fully open, making it much easier to carry.
Most foldable laptops that exist currently either have a virtual keyboard that takes up the bottom of the screen when unfolded, reducing viewing real estate, or uses an attached keyboard that is separate from the device. Samsung’s patent allows for a real keyboard, something quite desirable for those who write rather than play games, and a large screen that could act as a virtual desktop. Of course, such a device would not be cheap, if it appeared at all, but would be quite practical in either configuration, which makes it notable in our view.
Samsung Multi-Fold Laptop - Multiple Views - Source: WIPO
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