Foreign media: Samsung will launch two flexible screen smartphones

On the afternoon of June 7th, Beijing time, according to Bloomberg News, informed sources revealed that Samsung Electronics is considering launching two smart phones with flexible screens, one of which can be folded in the same way as a cosmetic case.

According to people familiar with the matter, the two devices will use OLED screens, which will be launched as early as 2017. This will help Samsung gain a lead in the competition with the new Apple iPhone. Another device can provide a 5-inch display when used as a mobile phone, but the expanded size is 8 inches, similar to a tablet.

As the world's largest supplier of mobile device OLED panels, Samsung has developed a new screen mode with the Edge series of curved screen phones. Using advanced screen technology may help the company regain customers from Apple and boost the profitability that has shrunk for two years.

“If Samsung succeeds in developing a user interface for flexible screens, this will be a revolutionary product,” said Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at IBK Securities in Seoul. “The next year will verify this possibility, their biggest. The obstacle is to produce transparent plastic that can be bent, but the problem seems to have been solved now."

Samsung shares rose 1.7% this afternoon to 1.4 million won. The stock has risen 11% this year.

According to informed sources, the project's development code is Project Valley, and Samsung is expected to launch one or two devices at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February next year. It is reported that Apple will also use OLED screens in the new iPhone released later in 2017.

Informed sources also revealed that Samsung may name the next-generation Note phone Galaxy Note 7, skip Note 6 directly to match the naming of the Galaxy S series phones. People familiar with the matter said the company is not prepared to classify flexible screen phones into the Galaxy S series.

Samsung declined to comment.

After using OLED screens on their high-end devices, Samsung also hopes to use this technology to win more orders. This screen is thinner, brighter and consumes less power.

Although Samsung has previously shown a video of a bendable concept phone, it has never officially launched a commercial product. Chongqing Moxi Technology has shown mobile phones with black and white flexible screens.

Due to the slowdown in market growth, Samsung Vice Chairman Li Zaiyu is accelerating the company's breakthrough in the mobile phone market. According to informed sources, Samsung has started an OLED supply negotiation with Apple. Before the two sides broke out in the patent war in 2011, Samsung was once one of Apple's largest suppliers of chips and displays.