Samsung to debut flexible smartphone screens in 2012

By Rick Marshall October 31, 2011

Not content with leading the industry in smartphone sales, Samsung also plans to offer the most flexible phones, too.

During its quarterly earnings call this week, the company announced plans to feature flexible screens on its mobile devices hitting shelves in 2012.

“The flexible display we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part,” said Samsung’s vice president of investor relations, Robert Yi. “The application probably will start from the handset side.”

The company plans to move on to tablet computers and other devices after phones, too.

Samsung has made rapid strides in bringing bendable screens to consumers after purchasing Liquivista, a company specializing in flexible electronic displays, back in January 2011. While many companies have been experimenting with bright, low-power displays that can also be flexed and twisted, this could be the first mass-market rollout for the technology.

At the 2009 CES, Sony demonstrated a flexible display, but it has yet to announce plans for a mass-market product featuring the screens.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Samsung

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Mobile

5 phones you should buy instead of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus

A Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus laying on concrete.

Looking to upgrade your phone this year? You may be considering Samsung’s new Galaxy S24 Plus, which is the middle child of the S24 lineup. Given how solid the S24 Plus is, that's not a bad idea at all.

But is the Galaxy S24 Plus the best phone you can get? Maybe not, as there are plenty of other great choices that you can choose from as well. Here are some of the best alternatives to the Galaxy S24 Plus that you should take a look at before spending your hard-earned dollars.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Mobile

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 with a free S Pen is down to $199

A render of the front of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 2024.

There are tablet deals that slash the prices of devices that are designed to meet the requirements of creative professionals, but you can also take advantage of offers for tablets that are designed for simpler purposes. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a great example of the latter, and it's on sale from Walmart with a $150 discount that pulls its price down to a very affordable $199 from $349. It's not going to stay this cheap for long though, so if you're interested in this bargain you're going to have to complete your purchase as soon as possible.

Why you should buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) is now available, but the 2022 release of the tablet, which is the one that's discounted on Walmart, remains a worthwhile purchase today as long as you manage your expectations. It's not going to challenge the best tablets in terms of performance as it only offers 4GB of RAM, but it's going to be more than enough for daily activities such as browsing the internet, catching up on social media, and watching streaming shows. The tablet only comes with 64GB of storage, but you can use a microSD card for up to 1TB of additional space.

Mobile

This is one of the toughest smartphone camera comparisons I’ve ever done

A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (left) and Xiaomi 14 Ultra Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra may have the best camera on a smartphone I’ve used this year, which is quite a statement to make considering the competition it faces. But is it true?