Samsung may launch its first flexible display smartphone, codenamed the Galaxy Round, as early as this week.
The Korean smartphone maker has launched a number of smartphones in 2013 and it seems that Samsung has more handsets to announce for this year. Rumors of curved or flexible display smartphones have been surfacing in the smartphone space for a long time and in Jan. 2013 Samsung officially launched their flexible OLED displays, which were called YOUM displays.
"Korean media is reporting that Samsung might announce its curved display smartphone as soon as this week, with the tentative name Galaxy Round, beating LG the punch. It is aimed to be the first commercially available phone with a plastic, instead of glass substrate, meaning the panel is much more durable, and will, ultimately, be cheaper to produce," reports Phone Arena.
The Phone Arena report also suggests the hardware specifications of the rumored Galaxy Round may be expected to be similar to the Galaxy Note 3. Previous rumors suggested that the Galaxy Note 3 will be available in a few variants and probably the flexible display will be one of the versions of the phablet.
Samsung is not the only smartphone maker working on a flexible display handset, as LG is also expected to launch a flexible or curved display handset soon.
"LG Display Co Ltd said on Monday it has started production of a six-inch display curved top to bottom. LG Electronics plans to launch a smartphone with the curved display in November, a source familiar with the matter said," reports Reuters.
The smartphone arena has become very competitive in the last few years and Samsung and LG are well-known handset makers. It may not be long that other smartphone manufacturers such as Nokia, Apple, HTC and more will join the flexible display party and launch new smartphones with the latest panel technology.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S4, LG G2 and other smartphones placed at the top-end segment of the market have premium price tags to match their top-notch specs. A plastic screen may be cheaper to produce when compared to the glass screen found in current smartphones. As such, it will be interesting to see the price of the upcoming Galaxy Round.
