Xiaomi patents a foldable phone with rotating camera

The phone comes with a quad camera setup.

The phone  comes with a rotating camera module. (REUTERS)

Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei are the three major players in the world of foldable display smartphones right now. But word is that a fourth player could enter this battle field soon. Xiaomi has patented a design for a new foldable display smartphone that would soon compete with the likes of the Galaxy Z Flip, Moto Razr and Mate X.

According to a report by Tiger Mobiles, Xiaomi has patented a foldable smartphone with a clamshell design that comes with a rotating camera. The patent images show that the phone has a quad camera setup on the inside and a single rear camera setup on the outside or the back of the phone. This camera module can be rotated such that the main camera module with a quad camera setup sits on the outside, that is, on the back of the phone, when it is folded.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that reports of Xiaomi working on a foldable display smartphone have surfaced online. Last year, the company teased a double folding concept phone that would be of the size of a small tablet when opened completely. The phone called the Mi Mix Flex was tipped to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and come with 10GB of RAM.

Additionally, reports at the time suggested that the phone would be priced at $999 in the US and ₹74,999 in India, which would be way less than the first generation of foldable display smartphones in the market. Xiaomi, however, did not formally launch the phone in the market.

As far as the company's Nokia N90-esque foldable display phone is concerned, the future of the phone remains uncertain as of now. Xiaomi hasn't announced anything yet. We will update you as soon as we hear more about the phone.