Skip to main content

Report says LG will ship flexible phone screens this year, and beat Samsung to the glory

lg optimus g pro touchscreenWill the next major LG smartphone have a flexible display? If a report in the Korea Times is accurate, then there’s a good chance it will. The article concentrates on LG’s rivalry with Samsung, then slips in a very intriguing sentence right at the end. It states LG is working on flexible displays, which we already knew, but has entered into a partnership with Korea’s finance ministry, and, “aims to ship its first batch of flexible displays later this year.”

This comes after LG Display announced a huge increase in funding at the beginning of the year, confirming at the time a high percentage of the research and development budget would go on so-called advanced technologies, including next-generation flexible and transparent displays. It looks like it’s already beginning to pay dividends.

Samsung has been the primary contender for releasing a flexible screen device for some time, and showed its Youm concept hardware during its CES 2013 press conference. However, it has been careful not to speak to soon, saying the tech is still not ready for public release. LG has also been pushing the flexible screen tech boundaries for a while, having been responsible for the first flexy e-paper display which found its way on to the Wexler eReader last year.

However, LG also has a history of talking up exciting screen tech, only to be beaten to the mainstream market by someone else. For example, it made a lot of noise about its 5-inch, 1080p smartphone screen when such a high resolution on such a small scale was almost unheard of, but it was HTC making headlines with the Butterfly/Droid DNA first.

That said, we’re hopeful LG will give us a flexible screen this year, although it’s likely to be marketed more as an unbreakable display than anything else, thanks to the lack of flexible processors, batteries and other essential internal components stopping our bendy phone dreams from coming true. Not that it matters, as a screen which won’t break when we drop our phones still sounds pretty good to us. On which phone could the flexible screen make its debut? Well, the rumored Optimus G2 has supposedly has a late 2013 release…

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
How to fix screen burn on your iPhone or Android phone
The screens on the Galaxy A54 and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro (top) and Nothing Phone 2 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

If you're seeing remnants of shadowy or ghost-like images on your smartphone or tablet, your device may have become a victim of screen burn-in. It's a relatively rare phenomenon among modern electronic devices where either all or part of an image remains faintly, but persistently on your screen, even when it's either off or supposed to be showing you something entirely different.

Read more
Samsung may have a big surprise in store with its next folding phone
A person holding the open Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, showing the screen.

As Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 continues in Barcelona, Spain, there are whispers that Samsung could be releasing not one, but two Galaxy Z Fold 6 models. More specifically, one of them could be a Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, at least according to a report from WinFuture. If this is the case, it will be the first time that Samsung releases two Z Fold variants at the same time — and the first time we've seen an Ultra model in the Z Fold family.

For some time now, there has been a rumor that Samsung was possibly launching a second “fold” in the Galaxy Z series, which currently includes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5. However, most of the rumors up until this point have suggested that a second “Fold” model would have been a cheaper, more affordable variant. However, that may not be the case.

Read more
How to use wireless charging on your Samsung phone
The rear panel of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.

Today’s Samsung devices, including the latest Galaxy phones, Samsung smartwatches, and even compatible Samsung earbuds, all work with wireless charging. Place your device down on the right pad, and it’ll charge up all on its own. That saves time and wear and tear on your cables — but it’s important to know how it works first. Our guide will go over all the basics so you’re ready for every kind of Samsung wireless charging.

Read more