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Samsung's Next Gamble: Bendable Screens

It's working on flexible phones

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 13, 2012 2:21 PM CST

(Newser) – Have you ever looked at your phone and thought, "This is cool and all, but why can't I roll it up?" Well, Samsung has. That's why its display arm, Samsung Display Co., is moving forward on a plan to mass-produce screens made out of flexible plastic, which will allow the South Korean tech giant to make phones that are lighter, nearly unbreakable, and, yes, bendable, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The screens will take advantage of OLEDs, which can be placed on flexible materials like plastic or foil. Samsung has been researching the technology since 2002, and thinks it can be the first company to mass-produce it effectively, though it won't say when it might unveil these bendable marvels or how much it's investing in them. Analysts say the new displays have advantages, but that they could drag on Samsung's profits, because the company still needs to produce the old screens for its current products.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note II sits on display during a launch event, Oct. 24, 2012, in New York.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note II sits on display during a launch event, Oct. 24, 2012, in New York.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
cardsfan
Nov 13, 2012 5:04 PM CST
The mobile market is the perfect place for OLED in this stage of development.  Since many people like myself change their phone every 2 years or so, the rate of decomposition of the organic material shouldn't affect the market very much...not like televisions anyway where people will keep them much longer. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time.
DougMasters
Nov 13, 2012 2:50 PM CST
Oldish news.
odowd80
Nov 13, 2012 2:41 PM CST
Do they have bendable batteries, too? How about bendable wi-fi radios and gps chips? Bendable RAM? Processor?
 

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