OnePlus to launch a foldable phone soon? CEO Pete Lau hints at display

New Delhi: Samsung unveiled its latest foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, earlier this month. Xiaomi launched its Mix Fold 2 shortly after Samsung, and Motorola unveiled the new 2022 Moto Razr in China. According to a hint from the company's CEO, Pete Lau, OnePlus is also working on a foldable smartphone.

Lau posted a couple of images on Twitter that appear to show a hinge for a foldable display. "Can you tell me what you think this is?" Lau, who is also Oppo's Chief Product Officer, stated in a tweet. Lau later clarified in a tweet that the images he shared were of the Oppo Find N's hinge. The Oppo Find N was the company's first foldable phone, debuted last year with a smaller outer display and a wide folding display. Lau also linked to a blog post about foldables on the OnePlus community forum, which asks users what they want from foldable devices.

OnePlus lays out the issues and what people want from foldable smartphones in the blog post, and then invites readers to comment on what they think about foldables. While none of this points to a OnePlus foldable smartphone, rumours of a OnePlus foldable date back a few years. It's also possible that OnePlus is using the Oppo Find N's expertise and feedback to develop its own foldable smartphone. Nothing is certain at this time.

What do you think this is? pic.twitter.com/vrT2pzQ7jX

— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) August 12, 2022

OnePlus filed a patent last year for a tri-folding smartphone, similar to the render on Lau's OnePlus blog post. Previously, the company teased a foldable smartphone ahead of the release of Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 last year. OnePlus shared a short video clip of a foldable-like device with a starry animation on the display in a cryptic tweet from the OnePlus USA official Twitter account. Although this did not materialise and was more of a prank to divert attention away from Samsung's foldable launch last year, it was one of the first indications of OnePlus's interest in the foldable segment.