| Samsung plans to start mass production of displays using plastic rather than glass to make mobile devices unbreakable, lighter, and bendable, to be released in the first half of next year, The Wall Street Journal reports. |
It is still unclear when devices using the technology will be available commercially, and Samsung declined to comment on how much it is investing in the displays.
Samsung Group's flagship company, Samsung Electronics Co, which makes products as diverse as semiconductors, television sets and smartphones, combined its liquid-crystal-display operations with its organic light-emitting diode joint venture, Samsung Mobile Display, earlier this year and turned it into Samsung Display.
The move to mass produce flexible displays comes as global smartphone and tablet makers look to differentiate their products to boost their profit margins and market share in the fast-growing markets.
Samsung's flexible displays will incorporate OLEDs, a display technology that the South Korean company is already using in its smartphones and television sets.
OLEDs are thin and can be put on flexible material such as plastic or metal foil. By using plastic rather than glass, they make the displays more durable and light. Flexible OLEDs have been in the development phase for many years, and companies including Sony of Japan and LG Display Co. of South Korea also have launched prototypes. However, manufacturers haven't been able to commercialize them or use them in devices due to technological barriers in mass production. Samsung hopes it will be first to bring the product to the market.
Samsung's push has taken on more urgency, because other display makers are also moving to introduce different screen technologies for cellphones and tablets. For instance, Sharp of Japan and LG Display are already selling liquid-crystal displays with technology used for the screens of Apple's iPhone 5. The "in cell" technology makes the smartphone's screen thinner by integrating touch sensors into the liquid crystal display, eliminating the need for a separate touch-screen layer.
Also part of the emerging flexible mobile device market is the ultra thin and flexible Willow Glass from Corning Incorporated. The thinness, strength, and flexibility of the glass has the potential to enable displays to be “wrapped” around a device.
Samsung is able to invest heavily in the display business despite a supply glut of panels as its profits are soaring. In the third quarter, Samsung Electronics' net profit surged 91% from a year earlier to about $6 billion.
SOURCE Wall Street Journal
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