After what seemed like forever, flexible OLED displays are finally gearing up to feature on smartphones by 2014. These displays will be mass produced by LG and is expected to be both bendable and unbreakable. The company says the first set of flexible displays for smartphones will be of the 6-inch variety, though there's no word on when smartphone users should expect panels to come in smaller sizes.
According to LG's press release, the flexible OLED display is built on plastic substrates, instead of glass. The company first applies film-type encapsulation technology and then attached a protection film to the back of the screen to create a flexible and indestructible screen.
"LG Display is launching a new era of flexible displays for smartphones with its industry-leading technology," said Dr. Sang Deog Yeo, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of LG Display. "The flexible display market is expected to grow quickly as this technology is expected to expand further into diverse applications including automotive displays, tablets, and wearable devices. Our goal is to take an early lead in the flexible display market by introducing new products with enhanced performance and differentiated designs next year."
LG was also the first company to develop a 6-inch electronic paper display back in 2012, so it comes as no surprise to see the company preparing itself for mass production of flexible displays, come 2014. We hope that whenever these smartphones hit the market, the price point is not too far out of our reach. Then again, anything with new hardware technology is usually quite expensive in the first year.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by LG, Samsung has also announced plans to launch its first smartphone with a flexible display in South Korea by the end of 2013, according to a recent Reuters report.
We first saw a device with flexible display back in January of 2013 at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES). This display was called Youm, and was presented by Samsung Electronics.
