Samsung patents a clamshell Samsung Galaxy Z Fold

Samsung is expected to have 86% foldable market share in 2022, meaning the company is in the end only competing with itself when it comes to the folding smartphone market.

This has meant the company has to become increasingly creative, leading to some pretty odd experimental designs, such as the 3-pane Z-folding tablet.

Now LetsgoDigital has dug up another unusual design that may be closer to making it to market.

The company designed a device that looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, but with a horizontal rather than vertical fold.

While saying the fold is horizontal vs vertical appears pretty arbitrary, the aspect ratios of the handset make it clear it is meant to be used more like a laptop/tablet hybrid rather than a phone which turns into a tablet.

The patent, which was filed in mid-2019 and published a few days ago, brings to mind clamshell PDAs from the early 2000s.

Samsung’s patent shows features such as dual punch-hole cameras or under-display cameras and a triple-lens main camera system.

It is unclear if such a device would ever hit the market, but Samsung has made it clear they intend to continue to own the folding phone market, which may mean many more models in the future.

The full patent can be seen here.