Seems smartphone OEMs are tired of the iPhone inspired shape of phones as LG has announced it will introduce a smartphone with a flexible OLED screen in the fourth quarter of this year during a call discussing the company’s recent financial results. Yoon Bu-hyun the company’s vice president of mobile said his division was working closely with LG Display to bring a phone to consumers. It’s unlikely that we’ll see a flexible smartphone — the battery and circuitry cannot permit such a design but we could see a device with a wraparound display, something like Samsung’s prototype from CES.
Manufacturing troubles often lead to holds up in next-generation displays coming to market. LG and Samsung have struggled to release OLED TVs, both companies have also been saying flexible displays are on their way for some time now, but aside from the periodic trade show demo, nothing has materialized. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, analysts said investors will be keeping a close eye on whether LG can deliver on its smartphone promise, as the production yields for next-generation displays are still low.
