Samsung Said to Be Releasing Smartphones with Bendable Display in 2017

Just ahead of Apple’s rumoured switch to OLED screens, Samsung is rumoured to have a surprise in store for smartphone users with an “experimental” handset: It will allegedly introduce two new smartphones that feature bendable displays, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people familiar with the matter. One of them will “fold in half like a cosmetic compact”, according to sources.

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The new smartphones are expected to launch in February 2017, when the Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona, one of the sources informed Bloomberg.

While information about the new handsets is vague at this point, the “experimental” smartphone Samsung is said to be launching next year is said to feature a 5-inch OLED display – in normal-use fashion. What makes this handset particularly interesting is that when unfolded as a tablet, the display measures 8 inches, the sources said.

“This product could be a game-changer if Samsung successfully comes up with a user interface suitable for bendable screens,” said Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at IBK Securities Co. in Seoul. “Next year is a probable scenario. Their biggest obstacle was related to making transparent plastics and making them durable, which seems resolved by now.”

The project is codenamed “Project Valley” and, if launched next February, would give Samsung a nice boost ahead of Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone launch. Next year’s iPhone is rumoured to bring major changes, as Apple has turned to Samsung for OLED screens. Also, the Apple handset is said to feature a bezel-free design and possibly a 5.8-inch bendable display similar to that of the Galaxy S7 Edge.

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