The introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Fold served as both the culmination of Samsung's years-long efforts to develop a mass-market foldable phone and the start of a new trend in premium smartphones, with multiple companies releasing their own takes on a foldable phone. Whether foldable phones are here to stay, though, is a debate for another day. Still, for now, we know one thing: Samsung's recent foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, show that Samsung's foldable technology has started to mature. Now, there might be a new member in the Z-series: a foldable smartphone that folds twice.

According to a report from The Nikkei, Samsung may be doubling down on the foldable smartphone business even through the heavy chip shortage currently affecting all electronics. While we might not see a new Note smartphone this year, new foldable phones are still in Samsung's pipeline for 2021. This double-folding smartphone, if it ever sees the light, would join the Z-series alongside a successor to the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip and a new Galaxy Z Fold, according to the report. Samsung has filed multiple patents for double-hinged designs, further fueling this speculation. While companies like Xiaomi and TCL have shown off double folding phone prototypes, none have made it to the consumer market yet.

We don't know whether Samsung's take on double hinges will be similar to what these companies have shown off. Still, according to the report, the phone might be made to fit a more "conventional" 16:9 or 18:9 aspect ratio when unfolded to improve app compatibility.

The Nikkei's report also goes deeper into the Note issue. Samsung might be planning to replace the Note series with foldable phones in the long term, explaining the current push for making more Z-series phones, complete with plans to increase production for the new upcoming devices sharply. While this is all still unconfirmed until Samsung actually confirms things themselves, we might see this new double-folding Galaxy Fold as soon as the end of this year.

What do you think about it?