Huawei V-Pencil patent hints at a killer Mate V foldable feature

Foldables are back in fashion again, at least thanks to Samsung's more aggressive push of its third-gen devices. While the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has the most features and most controversy, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is being painted as the more silent success between the two. The affordability of the foldable clamshell might be spurring Samsung's competitors to take notice and step up their own game. Huawei, in particular, might have a trick up its sleeve to make its rumored Mate V clamshell more tempting.

Huawei already has a foldable phone under the Mate X brand that launched around the same time as the first Galaxy Fold. Unlike Samsung's design, which has stuck to the "innie" fold from the very beginning, the first Huawei Mate X sporting an outward folding display before it would switch to a similar inward fold in the Mate X2. So far, Huawei hasn't made any other foldable device outside of the Mate X series, but that could be changing soon.

Rumors of a Mate V foldable started last year, suggesting that Huawei will take a stab at competing with the Galaxy Z Flip and the new Motorola Razr. Of course, those were only rumors and speculation based on trademark filings, and nothing further came out of those. A new trademark, however, sort of proves that the company hasn't given up on that front just yet.

According to LetsGoDigital's theory, the Huawei V-Pencil that the company just trademarked is intended for the Mate V foldable. The trademark does describe an electronic pen or stylus, but Huawei already has an M-Pen or M-Pencil for its tablets. This new trademark would hint that it intends to use this brand for a completely different purpose, possibly related to that upcoming Mate V device.

If Huawei does manage to launch a foldable clamshell with support for a stylus, it could have a winner in its hands. There have been quite a few wishes for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 to have S Pen support as well, so Huawei could find a market for that. Of course, Huawei's problem might be on the software side, at least for those unsure of the company's HarmonyOS.