Huawei's folding phone patent shows how a phone turns into a tablet and vice versa

Last October, Huawei CEO Richard Yu revealed that the company has a working foldable phone that could be released in 2018. The timing of that comment is important, because just one month prior to Yu's statement Huawei filed a patent application with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The patent was published today by that organization, and includes images of what Huawei has in mind.

In the open position, the foldable Huawei device is a full-sized tablet. It appears to fold in the middle to become a smartphone. Back in October, when he discussed the foldable phone that Huawei was working on, CEO Yu mentioned that there was a "small gap" between the two screens when they are opened in the tablet position. At the time, he said that Huawei had to find a way to get rid of the gap. Since this patent was filed before his comments were made, we assume that the mechanism in this patent does not solve that issue.

Other phone manufacturers are believed to be working on a foldable phone. Earlier this month, a Merrill Lynch analyst said that Apple is creating a folding iPhone that could be introduced in 2020. Microsoft has received some patents for its "Andromeda" foldable device, and Samsung is reportedly set to unveil the long-awaited foldable Galaxy X some time next year.

You can see images from Huawei's patent at the very top of this story.

source: LetsGoDigital (translated)