Samsung Could Introduce Bendable-Screen Phones in 2012

You need a lot of flexibility to succeed in today's mobile market, and Samsung is apparently taking that literally.

The South Korean electronics giant's top investor-relations official, Robert Yi, made news early this week by signaling that a new technology for bendable displays may be part of the next generation of Samsung smartphones.

"The flexible display, we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part," Yi said, according to press reports. He said "the application probably will start from the handset side," with tablets later on. Samsung's Galaxy tablets largely follow the technology of its phones. Samsung said in June that it intended to produce flexible OLED screens after displaying a super-thin, 4.5-inch version at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

A Web site devoted to OLED displays, OLED-Info, reported in June that Samsung had entered into a joint venture with Japan's Ube Kosan to produce substrates for flexible displays.

Nokia, Too

As smartphones get larger, the new technology could mean a new variation of the flip-phone model of phones, but with the screen itself folding instead of just the panel holding the screen, making it easier to fit in pockets or purses. It could also open doors for new entertainment use as games and videos could display a panoramic view.

Samsung isn't the only company with bend on the brain, and it's not just about smartphones.

"At Nokia World in London last week, Nokia showed off a demo of a bendable media player prototype, where the user interface incorporated twisting the whole unit -- screen included -- to zoom in/out of photos and select music to play," said consumer devices expert Avi Greengart of Current Analysis. "It was rather delightful. I have no idea what Samsung is planning to do with its version of the technology; its utility depends on how it is implemented."

Nokia also showed off its Kinectic bendable smartphone. As far back as 2007, Sony has had working models of a bendable paper-thin display.

Will It Sell?

But will consumers be comfortable buying an expensive phone or tablet that bends or worry that it might be too experimental and not durable enough?

Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, said concern about fragility might be a factor "for first and possibly second generation iterations, which will likely be neat/pricey gizmos appealing largely to early adopters."

But the aesthetics, he said, "could be the game-changer since flexible screens would allow developers to spread their wings beyond flat-plane product designs."

What would such devices look like? "Hard to say, but I bet they break the bonds of the TV screen/writing tablet models that dominate the market today," King said.

Other than prototypes, there is nothing commercial of the kind on today's market, King said, but it's likely there will be more demonstrations at next year's CES.
 

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