Samsung Display Shows Foldable Laptop Prototype at CES 2022
Samsung Display unveiled two foldable OLED display panels and one foldable laptop prototype at CES 2022. The panels are Flex G foldable on both sides and Flex S foldable into an S shape. The prototype is Flex Note with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and a screen size of 13 to 17 inches.
The first Consumer Electronics Show with a foldable laptop took place in 2020. There, Intel unveiled its Horseshoe Bend and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold was exhibited as a product based on it. The technology of Intel is to use an OLED display panel with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and a size of 12 to 17 inches along with an Intel mobile processor. Although Intel did not further develop it, manufacturers began to unveil foldable laptop prototypes.
Intel refocused on foldable devices at CES 2022 by releasing its third-generation Evo standards for desktops, external devices, and foldable and non-foldable laptops. The standards are scheduled to be expanded this year to cover foldable PCs.
Asus also exhibited foldable OLED laptops at CES 2022. One is clamshell Zenbook 14 OLED, which will be released late this year. The other is ZenBook 17 Fold OLED, which has a 2.5K resolution along with a 75Wh battery and a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 P-series processor and is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of this year.
Samsung Electronics, in the meantime, is increasing its patent applications regarding laptop folding. The examples include a multi-foldable laptop that has a foldable display panel and can be refolded when its physical keyboard is separated. According to the patent, the laptop is capable of reducing its size by up to 75 percent.
At present, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is the only foldable laptop on the market. The slow pace of commercialization is because the technology is still expensive, not durable enough, and not usable enough. Under the circumstances, Samsung Electronics is drawing increasing attention as the only profit-making foldable device manufacturer in the world. According to experts, the foldable laptop market is likely to be boosted once Samsung Electronics gets down to the business.