LG has been researching foldable and rollable phones for some time now, but the company has yet to bring such a device to market. Meanwhile, competitors like Samsung and Huawei are establishing themselves as companies willing to experiment with futuristic form factors and materials.

However, a patent application published this week suggests that LG has far more ambitious ideas for the future: a device that is both foldable and rollable, according to a report by Korea's Asia Time via Android Authority concept has been revealed.

The sketch provided is certainly difficult to analyze at a glance. It appears that a portion of the display could unfold and then fold down to expand the available screen area and at the same time offer a laptop-style form factor option. And the LG OLED TV R9, which LG first showcased at the 2019 CES, shows that LG has a lot of experience with rollable displays.

However, a glance at LG's rollable TVs quickly shows that a similar approach will probably not work for mobile devices, at least to the extent that it is currently technically possible. In that case, the screen would probably have to be squeezed in with the other critical components and packed into some sort of long box to accommodate what is essentially a scrolling base.

Conversely, the design LG is proposing here, in which the panel rolls out and folds down, extending from a solid candybar chassis, seems more feasible.

Meanwhile, while LG wrestles with what is possible and what is not, domestic rival Samsung has quickly and quietly become adept at making products that are simply foldable; the Galaxy Z Flip is not a perfect device, but it is reliable and sophisticated enough for daily use and foldable The Galaxy Z Flip is not perfect, but it is a breakthrough in bringing a foldable device that is reliable and sleek enough for everyday use. The upcoming Galaxy Fold 2 will hopefully right the wrongs of its innovative but undercooked predecessor.

Of course, as anyone who follows the industry knows, patent applications do not always correspond to commercialized devices. In most cases, patent applications allow companies to put their stamp on technical problems that have not yet been fully solved, and this example seems to be especially true. But given that LG doesn't even have the ability to launch a foldable--let alone a rollable foldable--this has to seem a bit ridiculous; even TCL, which "previewed" a rollable phone in March, when we went hands-on with a dummy unit with a non-functioning design, failed to provide an actual working prototype of the concept.

Asia Time's original text is in Korean, so much is lost in translation, suggesting that LG actually hoped to launch the device by the end of 2020, but that the company is struggling to improve the durability of the display, which consists of 12 layers of film It appears that the company is having trouble improving the durability of the display, which is made up of 12 layers of film.

Thus, it is no exaggeration to say that there are twists and turns that need to be worked out in the development of flexible display phones, and for a company like LG to finally achieve its vision, it will not be a massive, grand leap of a big idea without a practical foundation, but an iterative baby steps are needed.