Google admits to working on a second foldable, but it isn't quite ready yet.

Did the clamshell Pixel Fold pass us by?

While it is evident that many fans are excited to purchase Google's first foldable, the Google Pixel Fold, which was unveiled at Google IO last month, it has now been disclosed that the device was initially expected to be released alongside another folding Pixel.

During IO, Google's product manager, George Hwang, said that his team was "definitely looking" at "different types of devices, different types of technologies," which may have suggested that Google was considering more than just the vertically folding book-style form factor of the Pixel Fold.

However, after the incident, Ivy Ross, the company's head of design for hardware products, confirmed on-record in the most recent edition of the official Made By Google podcast that a second foldable form factor was in fact in development.

Ivy says, "I'm really proud of the team because there was another foldable model that we had created, that we had the discipline to hold back and say, "Nope, it's not good enough yet," and really wait until we felt like we could do something that was good enough or better than what was out there already," at around the 17:20 mark of the episode (titled "Pixel Perfect").

Ross' clarification of Hwang's earlier remark regarding "different types of devices" is crucial, but it also allows room for a future Pixel with a different foldable form factor.

It's possible to infer from statements like "the discipline to hold back" and "it's not good enough yet" that this second Pixel foldable isn't completely out of the running; rather, it's just on hold until the development team is satisfied that it's ready for consumers and provides something that is "better than what was out there already."

GALAXY Z FOLD

Since Motorola decided not to release the Motorola Razr 2022 in the region, only the 2019 and 2020 revivals have been available as less-than-stellar alternatives to Samsung's offerings, leaving foldable aficionados in Google's home country of the US with little options. Google has finally realised that there is room for more foldable competition in the United States.

Although Ross never mentioned a clamshell design specifically, it does seem to be the most obvious partner foldable form factor to the Pixel Fold, particularly in light of the competition's approach. Oppo released the Find N and Find N2 before producing the Find N2 Flip, while Samsung first introduced the vertically-hinged Fold before launching the clamshell Flip, to name a few.

                                                                                                                                                                      The warning before diving headfirst into the foldable market is that Android has long been known for being a lacklustre experience on larger screens, with only a select few manufacturers able to turn it into something usable and desirable (as you'll discover with our list of the best Android tablets).

Although Ross never mentioned a clamshell design specifically, it does seem to be the most obvious partner foldable form factor to the Pixel Fold, particularly in light of the competition's approach. Oppo offered the Find N and Find N2 before releasing the Find N2 Flip, a couple of Huawei's Mate X foldables were on the market before the P50 Pocket arrived, and Samsung began with the vertically-hinged Fold before subsequently launching the clamshell Flip.