Google is thinking about a foldable Pixel, but it probably won't happen soon

Does the world really need foldable phones?

If you ask Google Pixel development lead Mario Queiroz, the answer is not right now.

Speaking to CNET, Queiroz confirmed that Google has been prototyping the technology for "a long time," but right now, the company doesn't see a clear use case for such a phone.

According to Queiroz, foldable phones are nice for people who want to extend the size of their screen, but that's probably not enough for the product to succeed.

"The use case is going to need to be something where you go, 'Hey, I definitely need to have this.' Right now, you don't need to have a foldable. It's kind of a 'nice-to-have'," he said.

And while the fact that Google has been prototyping foldables for a while is interesting, Queiroz made it clear in a later statement that the company has "no related product announcements to make at this time."

With this, Google joins the camp of phone manufacturers who think that foldable phones are interesting, but aren't exactly ready to build one yet. In February, LG said it's "too early" for foldable phones. Xiaomi has been showing off a concept foldable phone for a while, but admitted the device is not ready for the market, and even called upon consumers to improve it with their ideas. And Apple had foldable phone-related patent as early as 2016, but the company hasn't officially announced any such product yet.

On the other side of the fence are Samsung and Huawei, both of which have announced a foldable phone. The launch of Samsung's Galaxy Fold has been delayed to an unspecified time in the future due to early issues with the phone's screen, while the Huawei Mate X is scheduled to launch in June.