The proliferation of folding cell phones has been slow, to say the least. Currently, only Samsung and Motorola are selling them in the U.S., and the latter has not announced anything new this year. However, there is still a chance that a brand new foldable will hit store shelves before 2021 is over.

In fact, according to an entirely new leak, the Google Pixel Fold could appear in the fourth quarter of 2021. Or at least it could be, if David Naranjo, senior director of Display Supply Chain Consultants, is to be believed.

Google's Pixel 6 series is currently rumored to launch on October 19, possibly shortly thereafter. This date is a few weeks into the fourth quarter of this year, but is it possible that the Pixel Fold will appear during the same event?

It is not entirely clear, and Naranjo himself has not attempted to confirm anything. Of course, we hope to see more foldable phones come out, but the fact that we haven't heard that much about the Pixel Fold doesn't fill me with confidence.

If the past few years have shown us anything, it's that Google isn't very good at keeping secrets. The company's mobile division seems to have more leaks than a colander. [GPQ72, a model number and the codename "Passport," was on the list of leaked Google phones. We have also seen patents detailing what might be included in the foldable, including reports of an under-screen camera and a possible 7.6-inch display when folded. This would be consistent with the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

However, the fact that Google is working on a foldable does not necessarily mean it will appear this year. Making a foldable phone is no easy task. One only has to look at the problems experienced by Samsung's Galaxy Fold to understand how things can go wrong.

We will have to wait and see what Google has in store for us at the Pixel 6 launch event. But we can only hope that Google has a fallable ready and that they don't rush things and take their time to do their job properly.