Consumers have been promised phones with flexible displays for many years, but so far, the closest we've come has been devices like the LG G Flex, which can only handle a small amount of bending. But what about handsets with genuinely bendy displays, that can be folded over without being damaged?
The company showed off a prototype display almost two years ago, and this this time last year, a Samsung roadmap pointed to the first handsets with truly flexible displays coming in 2015. As ZDNet reports, Samsung Display has now confirmed that it will begin manufacturing flexible displays in significant quantities in 2015.
Samsung Display executive Lee Chang-hoon said that the company "will secure production capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 [units per month] by the end of next year". Lee added: "We plan to provide customers with a product that has a flexible display by the end of the year [2015]. However, nothing has been decided on the finished product."
Despite the ramp-up in production, 40,000 units a month isn't very much at all (just 480,000 a year), which suggests that Samsung will be approaching this new market segment very cautiously with a limited first run, much like it is doing with its new Galaxy Note Edge, which has a screen that curves and wraps around one edge of the handset. The same division responsible for the display on the Edge is also overseeing Samsung's flexible display development.
Lee also said that Samsung Display aims to drive down AMOLED panel production costs, and plans to reduce its dependence on Samsung's wider electronics business by offering increasingly affordable panels to appeal to other device manufacturers.
Source: ZDNet
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