Let’s be honest, the best foldable phones aren’t that exciting anymore. It’s been over half a decade since the first book-style foldable phones hit the market, but they haven’t managed to surpass 2% of the overall phone market share, despite new players coming on board.
What we need is a little excitement, and a whole different kind of foldable smartphone could be coming soon to shake things up. We've heard rumors of more advanced foldable models, with a tri-fold screen, and now there's talk that they could be coming sooner than expected.
All we know is what leaker Digital Chat Station (via Chinese social network Weibo) told us, namely that the world's first “commercially viable” three-part foldable smartphone is about to enter mass production.
Digital Chat Station has also revealed other details, including claims that this will be a “premium” device with a crease-resistant display. The fact that it’s a three-part foldable also means that it’s likely to be thicker than a regular foldable phone, and it could very well cost more. It’s unclear exactly how much it will cost, but given that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 just increased its starting price to $1,899, this could be one expensive foldable.
Digital Chat Station also said that this foldable model will be better than the manufacturer's “commercial flagship.” However, it's unclear what exactly this commercial flagship might be, and it's not a term I've heard used before, so it doesn't really help us figure out who might be responsible for it.
So who's behind this phone? While foldable phones are mostly Samsung's domain in the West, and we've seen some Samsung concepts featuring a three-part foldable display, that doesn't guarantee that Samsung is behind this mysterious device. Especially considering the large number of foldable phones that Chinese companies produce for the domestic market.
Aside from Oppo and OnePlus, which are still very new to the market, Chinese buyers can get foldable phones from most major domestic brands. These include Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, Vivo, TCL, and others. All of these companies have been involved in foldable phones for quite some time now and have produced a variety of interesting concept phones over the years, in both foldable and non-foldable forms.
The only question is when this phone will be announced. If this three-part foldable phone is already in mass production, it could be any time in the next few months. And since we don't know which company is involved, we can't even make any guesses – although it's possible that such a statement-making device could appear at CES 2025 in January.
Stay tuned to see if this triple threat becomes reality.