The possibility of Google working on a foldable smartphone was initially brought to our attention mid-March when a patent was uncovered describing a phone that would fold like a clamshell. Google embraced foldable smartphones in general when it announced Android support for the form factor at the end of last year. Now, according to a recent report, Google is already working on a foldable Pixel phone, but you won’t see it anytime soon.

Mario Queiroz, Google’s head of Pixel development, told CNET that the Android-maker has been already experimenting with the new form factor.

We’re definitely prototyping the technology. We’ve been doing it for a long time. I don’t think there’s a clear use case yet — Mario Queiroz

He admitted that foldable smartphones are addressing the user need for a bigger screen, but that alone isn’t enough to generate interest and demand. “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.

It is unknown how far down the road of developing a foldable Pixel phone Google is. However, Queiroz added in a follow-up to the initial interview that Google is “prototyping foldable displays and many other new hardware technologies” but the company is not preparing any product announcements at this time. “We’re focusing our excitement today on the new members of the Pixel family, the awesome and affordable Pixel 3a and 3a XL“.