According to foreign media LetsGoDigital, in February 2020, vivo Mobile applied to the World Intellectual Property Office for a patent called "Display Panel and Mobile Terminal", which was approved and published in June 2020.
This patent shows a foldable smartphone, which is similar in design to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. When expanded, you will get a screen the size of a tablet computer. The flexible screen is folded inward, so it can protect the screen from external factors.
The highlight is that vivo seems to be planning to equip this folding phone with a stylus, which can be inserted into the device like the Samsung Galaxy Note series. But it has a clever design. When the mobile phone is folded, a circular space will be formed in the middle. Inserting the stylus into it can minimize the probability of losing the stylus. In addition, when the stylus is inserted into the round hole, it will not damage the screen, because the patent states that the nib is made of soft rubber, which can prevent the screen from being scratched.
According to the patent description, the stylus is also made of magnetic material, which allows it to be fixed when inserted into the mobile phone, and at the bottom, the ingeniously designed pen cover can also ensure that it will not easily slip off when carrying the mobile phone. In addition, when the stylus is damaged, only the damaged parts need to be replaced, which helps to save maintenance costs.
In essence, the patent is mainly about the stylus and the space to accommodate the stylus, which means that the folding screen mobile phone is still underexposed in other aspects (such as camera and specifications). Another regret is that it is not clear from the patent documents how the stylus is charged and whether it supports Bluetooth connection.
Judging from the patents of folding screen mobile phones currently exposed, it seems that folding screen mobile phones will usher in a big explosion next year. In addition to Samsung, Huawei and Motorola, we may see more mobile phone manufacturers mass-producing folding screen smartphones, but there may be differences in form and function. It seems a good idea to equip the folding screen with a stylus, because the added value of the stylus can be maximized on a larger screen.