LG is beginning the year with an explosive innovation as reports say the company has recently acquired a patent certification for its foldable phone. USPTO has certified the patent application of LG for a foldable smartphone on January 10. LG's patent application was filed on Jan. 7, 2017.

The document posted on the USPTO site only reveals one diagram out of 14 figures. According to the description on the United States Design Patent document, the diagram shows that the upper part of the mobile phone is in a folded manner.

Looking at the two drawings in the diagram, the smartphone extends on the top when in an unfolded state. This could possibly mean that once the top portion is folded out vertically, it could show off the bigger screen which could then transform the phone into a tablet form.

Aside from LG, other tech giants like Nokia and Microsoft were also reportedly coming out with a foldable phone. As previously reported, Microsoft has recently applied for a patent for its foldable phone. You may want to check out more details here.

On the other hand, Nokia has reportedly filed and acquired a patent certification last year. Nokia gained the certification in September last year, after three years of submission in 2013. The patent reveals that the company is creating a device whose housing parts are connected to each other via a fold.

Furthermore, the diagram reveals that the handset appears like a pocket mirror. The new device has two portions which are connected with a hinge mechanism, TechTimes reported. Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, has already predicted that the market for foldable devices is expected to increase from 2.7 million units this 2017 to 163 million units by 2022.

See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?