Sharp Showcases A Unique Clamshell Style Foldable Smartphone

The biggest and the most prevalent trend for this year is expected to be the advent of foldable smartphones. Smartphone OEMs like Samsung and Huawei have already showcased their devices with the technology. Japanese multinational giant Sharp has also joined the bandwagon and revealed a clamshell style foldable smartphone in a video. This is the first time the technology has been exhibited.

Sharp Clamshell Foldable Smartphone

The clamshell foldable smartphone from Sharp that has been showcased in the video features a similar design to the expected Motorola RAZR foldable smartphone leaked a few days ago. It has a Plastic OLED display which can be folded completely into half to turn the device into a more compact form factor. It has a wide notch on top of the display which is surprising to see in a foldable smartphone. Its mechanism uses strong magnets to keep the display securely shut when in the folded state. To reaffirm the durability claims, Sharp has assured it has tested the folding mechanism for up to 3,00,000 bends. Notably, this number is significantly higher than the durability claims of Samsung Galaxy Fold.

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Unfortunately, Sharp hasn’t provided any specific launch date for a commercial smartphone featuring a clamshell, foldable design. According to the company, it may take years before a device featuring the technology may be released by it. However, Sharp is also a display manufacturer, so there may be a possibility that it may sell this technology to other OEMs to implement in separate devices. The video also doesn’t clarify if the display when folded time and again, will create a crease in the centre or not. Furthermore, the sound of the folding mechanism is also prevalent throughout the video, which may make the experience of using the smartphone cumbersome.