Thought Leadership
Working on a laptop can be comparatively tedious – the screen and keyboard are smaller than the technology in the office, including its monitors. Lenovo is therefore taking an unusual approach.
Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo is working on significantly increasing the screen area of laptops. After the company had already presented a computer in 2023 in which the screen can be extended upwards by around ten centimetres and thus enlarged, it presented a laptop with the working title Flip, which has an extra-long display, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC ) technology trade fair starting on Monday.
This can be folded back so that the other person can look at the folded half of the screen. One screen becomes two. This should make it easier to collaborate with colleagues or help in customer meetings. On another new Lenovo laptop, an additional screen can be attached to the right and left. This should enable the user to work more productively.
End of the line for the development department?
The laptop with foldable display and the additional screens are still in the development stage, they are proofs of concept. It is unclear whether they will ever reach the stores. “We are working hard on it and are doing our best,” says the responsible innovation manager Karen Gao at the presentation of the innovations, in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays a central role.
If the screen is not folded in the flip version, but remains in front of the user in an extra-long position, it can be a wobbly affair: At the presentation in Barcelona, one device tipped backwards several times because the screen was too heavy. The user has to attach a plastic support to the laptop to ensure stability.
Lenovo has been showcasing unusual developments at MWC for years, including a laptop with a transparent screen in 2024 – this was intended to help ensure that the laptop is no longer a visual blockade in customer meetings.
Developments are part of image cultivation
However, some Lenovo innovations remained stuck in the development stage and did not make it to market maturity. From an expert’s point of view, however, this is not a bad thing. The proofs of concept strengthen Lenovo’s brand image, says Ben Wood from the consulting firm CCS Insight. “They help to position Lenovo as an innovative company.” This in turn gives Lenovo a better chance of selling mainstream products.
The laptop with a screen that can be extended by ten centimetres, which was also presented at MWC in 2023, has now been declared a market-ready product. Lenovo wants to start selling it in stores this summer.
dpa
