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Back in March Patently Apple posted a continuation patent report that finally revealed that one of Apple's folding device patents was in fact aimed at a possible future MacBook with a large continuous display. We noted in our report that 16 of the 20 new claims published, finally revealed that the main focus of this patent was in fact a foldable display that will act as a "laptop." An image from that Apple patent is presented below.

A second Apple patent on this possible future product surfaced in May 2021. When and if Apple so chooses to bring such a device to market, their long-time display supplier Samsung is likely to be tapped for this type of device.

In October 2020 we reported that Intel Samsung and Microsoft were collaborating on large 17" foldable displays for notebooks called "Horseshoe Bend Project." In February 2021 Samsung was granted a design patent for a large foldable Display that was presented as a foldable notebook.

Today we're learning from Korea IT News that Samsung is set to mass produce 10 million medium-sized OLED displays in 2021, an increase of about 60% compared to 2021. It is understood that Samsung Display plans to produce 10 million medium-sized OLEDs to be used in tablets and notebook PCs next year.

Samsung Display's entry into the notebook PC market with medium-sized OLED from the beginning of this year. Samsung Display focused its efforts on targeting the laptop market by introducing new brands to expand its OLED business.

The strategy paid off. Global notebook manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Asus, Dell, and HP have begun to increase OLED adoption. Samsung Display also diversified its products such as resolution, size, and refresh rate to keep pace with market demands. As a result, OLED shipments for notebooks increased overwhelmingly.

At IMID 2021 Samsung introduce a 17.3" foldable OLED as presented below. This is likely to come to market in 2022. Microsoft's original Surface Neo was a dual display tablet that was to come to market in Q4 of this year. Microsoft didn't follow through and it may be because they want to shift to a  single 17.3" foldable display instead.  

While Apple's patent clearly described a large foldable display for a future laptop, it's unknown if Apple will market it as an optional MacBook form factor or a foldable tablet that could double as a notebook. Mark Gurman hinted back in June that Apple was working on much larger iPads and this could be one of the avenues that Apple is now exploring.

One last thing, Samsung is working on a very interesting Speaker device with a wraparound display that could fold out as a mini desktop display, or just a home device that could show recipes in the kitchen or watch a movie or YouTube video or even hold a FaceTime call/conference with friends. Whether Apple would or could take advantage of this concept in a future HomePod form factor is unknown at this time, but it's definitely a novel idea.

The timing of a new Bloomberg report is interesting. As I was just finishing this report when a new report from Mark Gurman was posted. In it Gurman states that "Apple plans to merge its HomePod and Apple TV hardware. The company is working on a combined Apple TV, HomePod and FaceTime camera device for debut as early as 2023. The Samsung concept just looks like such a device.

Gurman further added that Apple "is enlisting Afrooz Family to lead the work, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Family worked at Apple from 2012 to 2016 before leaving to co-found audio startup Syng with former Apple industrial designer Christopher Stringer."