LG is looking to invest massive amounts of money into developing and perfecting its foldable OLED screen business. This comes at a time when rumors of Samsung launching devices with foldable screens get louder and louder. It also comes recently after LG Display announced a massive 91% drop in profits.
According to the company’s press release, LG is looking to invest nearly $2 billion into its foldable OLED line, citing growing demand from the markets. OLED displays are already becoming more and more popular for smartphones and TVs but LG is betting that flexible OLED displays will be the next big thing in screen technology. Dr. Sang-Beom Han, CEO of LG Display, explained:
A paradigm shift to OLED represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the display industry. LG Display is determined to become the leader in the fast-growing OLED market through timely investments to maximize efficiency.
Both LG and Samsung, some of the biggest display manufacturers in the world, have been working on flexible screens for years. However, more recently, LG has been showing off concept screens for outdoor advertising, new types of devices and future TVs. Meanwhile there have been very credible rumors that Samsung is getting ready to announce a new handset or device featuring a foldable screens. Current reports peg such a device’s unveiling for 2017’s Mobile World Congress. That leaves precious little time for LG, and other companies, to create their own foldable display products.
In related news, both companies have been investing heavily into OLED displays, both flexible and non-flexible, with tens of billions of dollars being spent between the two giants. Both LG and Samsung are reported to have agreed to supply Apple with OLED panels for its upcoming iPhones, though it might be quite a few number of years before we see an iPhone with a real flexible display.