Apple wins patent for foldable smartphone, set to take on Samsung, others

Moving ahead with its foldable smartphone ambition, Apple has managed to win a patent for a foldable screen which could be used on iPhones and other devices. The patent, granted on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, describes an electronic device with a display and cover that are flexible or bendable, CNN has reported. The application was filed in January 2018 and is among a series of patent applications Apple has made around the idea of a foldable display. 

In the past, Apple has also filed patents for a flexible display with touch sensors and portions that open and close like a book, as well as a flexible iPhone that could be folded in half and grip a person`s clothes. Earlier in 2018, the iPhone-maker had successfully secured a patent for its foldable phone that focussed on a flexible hinge and the use of a fabric for its housing. In February 2019, Apple submitted a blueprint of a bendable smartphone describing a display with hinges that can fold in half or in thirds. The display could be used in anything from phones and tablets to laptops, wearables and even mobile accessories. 

But several companies, including Apple, often patent ideas that never come to fruition, the report said. While Samsung and Huawei have already shown off their foldable offerings at the MWC event held earlier this year in Barcelona, Apple is expected to release its bendable device by 2021. 

According to recent reports, reviewers complained that $2,000-worth Samsung Fold -- that opens up into a tablet -- started breaking and facing display issues in just few days of use.