Sony was tipped to be the next smartphone vendor working on a device with a foldable screen, letsgodigital reported citing a recent patent filing by the company.

The Dutch news outlet said the documentation revealed a new Sony concept for its Xperia range, which showed the device will be foldable and feature a transparent screen.

Sony filed its patent with the World Intellectual Property office in May and it was published in late November, letsgodigital stated.

Fleshing out the details, TechRadar reported the patent covers plans for “a dual-sided transparent smartphone”.

Both Samsung and Huawei have revealed they are planning to release a foldable smartphone in the near-future, but Sony’s plans of packing a transparent screen in such a device ups the game significantly.

However, TechRadar noted that while this could be an exciting development for smartphones, it is unlikely that transparent devices will be hitting the market anytime soon.

Vendors have only just begin to embed fingerprint scanners into displays and other elements including sensors, ear pieces and selfie cameras are expected to follow before it is possible to produce a fully transparent display.