Patent filings suggest Huawei is working on an 11-inch rollable phone

While we impatiently await the official announcement of the next series of foldable phones, there’s another smartphone innovation that has yet to be really untapped. At CES 2021, both LG and TCL showed off its respective takes on rollable phones. Oppo also showed off its rollable phone concept with the Oppo X 2021. Now, patent filings (via Let’sGoDigital) reveal that Huawei could be one of the next companies to get in on the action.

The patent in question was originally filed back in January of this year, but was just published this month. It shows off a design similar to what we’ve seen from other phone makers, as the phone will unfurl in a way to keep it crease-free. 

According to the patent, Huawei plans on using a plastic OLED panel that covers the entire front of the phone, and most of the back. On the back, there’s enough space left for Huawei to house some of its main cameras.

Instead of focusing on the flexible OLED panel, the real story here is how Huawei plans to have the display unroll. It seems that Huawei will use a motorized roller system, as the screen is pulled taut from around the phone’s edge and will have two different sliding positions. In addition to the sliding positions, the closed position offers three different screen sizes, going from 6.5-inches and extending out up to 11-inches.

Of course, this is just a patent filing and there is nothing concrete suggesting that Huawei is actively developing a rollable phone. Given the recent Huawei P50 delays, it’s safe to assume that the company has bigger fish to fry, namely in finding enough processors for new phones. But as someone who uses a Galaxy Z Fold 2 on a daily basis, the idea of a rolling phone is definitely an intriguing one.