There’s an outside chance that Microsoft could once again enter the phone market, thanks to a patent popping up that shows a 360-degree folding phone design.
Published on October 1 after being filed in February with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the patent shows what looks like a notebook-like phone that folds horizontally like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Like that phone, Microsoft’s one folds flat, with it sporting a cover display - though we can’t tell what size this is or indeed the main screen.
As MSPoweruser reports, the patent shows that the folding device has slots in the cover glass layer and the backplate to facilitate an easy and smooth bending action in the display that avoids creases, which can blight even the best foldable phones.
However, the thing that could make a prospective Microsoft folding phone stand apart from the likes of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the OnePlus Open is that it can fold both ways. This could make for a foldable phone that’s literally more flexible than its contemporaries and one that could have expanded use cases, such as being popped up as a mini display for watching Netflix on movies when traveling.
Folding in productivity
While the patent naturally doesn’t hint at potential specs for this proposed Microsoft foldable or many other details, I feel Microsoft could be a good contender for introducing some innovation into the foldable phones area.
Sure, the Surface Duo, Microsoft pseudo foldable phone was a bit of a flop, arguably due to its reliance on Android, I feel a foldable device – phone or tablet - from Microsoft that better tapped into its own software platform and ecosystem could have some appeal as a productivity-centric device.
For example, having a foldable phone that could, say, dual boot Android for the phone side and then Windows for the compact tablet side could bring in access to some of Microsoft's best software – Word for productivity, Xbox for gaming, and a slew of third-party software for all manner of other takes. The right chip would be needed to power this, but Microsoft has been making some headway with running Windows on Qualcomm’s ARM-based chips, as seen in our Surface Laptop 7 review - a laptop that makes use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform.
Of course, this is just my speculation and there’s a good chance this patent will never come to fruition. But if Microsoft ever decides to get back into the phones arena, then I think foldable will be the way to go.
