MICROSOFT

Surface Duo 3 will have a foldable screen

To say that Microsoft misread the market with its Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 devices would be a definite understatement. Just as devices with foldable screens started to become mainstream, Microsoft took an entirely different route by banking on the fact that people would rather have two flat screens.

Let's just say it outright: it didn't work out. Phones with foldable screens are seeing sales grow year on year, while Surface Duo devices have barely sold any units. So Microsoft is finally ready to change its strategy, according to a new report from "sources familiar with the company's plans."

The Surface Duo 3 will have a foldable inner display and a flat outer display, adopting a form factor similar to the vivo X Fold (pictured throughout this post) and the Honor Magic Vs. This device has gone through “a long year of prototyping and hardware experimentation,” supposedly.

Initially, Microsoft wanted the Surface Duo 3 to arrive later this year to retain the dual-screen design of its predecessors, but with narrower and taller edge-to-edge displays, wireless charging, and other unnamed improvements.

In fact, the design of this device had already been finalized when the company miraculously decided to choose the healthier path and opt for a truly foldable screen.

Because of this change, the year-end shipping target has gone out of the window, and it's now unclear when the Surface Duo 3 will actually launch. Likewise, no details about its specifications are known at the moment, as it is apparently too early for that.

Despite recent reports claiming that the Surface Duo 3 would have a 360-degree hinge, sources for today's information claim that this is not accurate and will instead be a 180-degree hinge. This is what most other foldable phones have. While we're calling it the Surface Duo 3 in this article for simplicity, it could very well be given another name if Microsoft wants the move to a foldable screen to be more obvious.

The same sources that reveal all this also claim that Microsoft wants to further differentiate its future Android offerings from its competitors and is working to offer "an ecosystem experience" between its Android devices and Windows PCs, similar to what is on the Apple with iPhones and Macs.

Additionally, the company would like to expand its Android smartphone lineup to more than just the Surface Duo and has been exploring different form factors to possibly ship in the future – we're talking traditional board-style devices, not foldables.

Source: GSMArena.com