Speculation that various phone makers such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will introduce so-called “folding phones” has been rampant for years, but one Chinese company may be set to beat both to market with a superior product.

Xiaomi Corp., often referred to as China’s Apple, has revealed a prototype smartphone that can be folded not just once but twice.

Revealed in a video posted to Twitter late Tuesday by Xiaomi Senior Vice President Wang Xiang, the unnamed phone is described as the “world’s first ever double folding phone.” Other than being remarkable in that it showcases new technology, no other details were forthcoming.

Excited to share this video of a special Xiaomi smartphone from our President and Co-founder Bin Lin. It is the world’s first ever double folding phone — that’s pretty cool, isn’t it? #xiaomi #foldingphone #technology pic.twitter.com/iBj0n3vIbW

— Wang Xiang (@XiangW_) January 23, 2019

Samsung was the first smartphone maker to demonstrate a folding phone prototype a decade ago at the Consumer Electronics Show, but it has never managed to bring the technology to market. As recently as October it was reported that Samsung may be bringing a foldable phone to market this year, supposedly as the Galaxy F, according to some reports, but nothing has been officially confirmed.

In 2017 Apple was reported to be working with LG Corp. to build an iPhone with a foldable organic light-emitting diode as well. Whereas Samsung may be close to bringing a foldable phone to market, nothing has been said about Apple’s possible competitor since.

In a market that has stagnated as new models don’t offer much over previous models, foldable phones may be revolutionary as the next step in phone development. Although the technology is impressive to look at, there’s also no arguable use case as to why consumers should have one, let alone one that can be folded twice.

“It is hard to judge the relative benefits of this versus a single fold and it will depend considerably on the user interface that Xiaomi chooses to adopt as it opens the ability to have a three-quarter screen option,” CCS Insight Consultant Ben Wood told the BBC. “However, it certainly means there is an additional point of failing. The fold is typically the area where there are most likely to be problems over time.”

The possible first folding phone to market, the Samsung Galaxy F, may or may not be announced at a Samsung event Feb. 20.

Photo: Xiaomi/screenshot