The smartphone industry is evolving and flexible smartphones promise to be the next big trend in the coming years. Not surprisingly, many companies are trying to present their own solutions in this area. The market is not fully interested in the technology because of the high cost and questionable reliability. However, manufacturers believe otherwise, with Samsung and Huawei already announcing their first commercial foldables. Now Sharp has also shown a foldable smartphone (or rather a display).
As part of a technical demonstration at an exhibition in Japan, Sharp introduced a prototype of a double folding smartphone. The device is equipped with a flexible organic EL display. The screen size is 6,18 inches and its resolution is WQHD+ (3040 × 1440). According to the stand staff, the product can withstand 300 bends.
Curiously, this device is reportedly able to bend in two directions. Although the displayed exhibit folded inward, it also supports outward folding (most likely, we are talking about the possibility of creating such a device based on the same flexible screen). I wonder how Sharp has structurally overcome the problem that modern flexible displays cannot bend 180 degrees without breaking?
It is worth noting that the shown "smartphone" is just a prototype. According to a spokesman for Sharp, the company has no plans to commercialize such a device. It looks like Sharp just wants to show off the capabilities of its displays to get other foldable phone makers interested. By the way, not so long ago, a Japanese company patented a folding gaming device, which caused speculation that Sharp had some intentions in this area.
Source: 3dnews.ru