Is Samsung Planning To Release Curved-Screen Smartphone?

Mike Moore,

Flexible displays could be key to kick-starting flagging device sales

Samsung is looking to improve its recent slump in smartphone sales by introducing a device featuring a curved display, according to reports.

The South Korean manufacturer, famous for its Galaxy family of handsets, is looking to introduce the feature as it looks to stand out amongst an increasingly crowded market of large-screen smartphones.

The company already has the Note Edge, which features a non-flat display to show notifications on the side of the device, which has been available in South Korea since last month and set to go on sale in the UK last this month, but the company is now looking to move forward and create something even more eye-catching.

“A change in the platform can bring about a variety of new considerations…I think a curved screen is a big solution for overcoming those challenges,” Kim Nam-Su, a senior Samsung Electronics designer and an architect of the Note Edge, told Reuters.

galaxy note edgeQualified

Samsung does have a background in this area, as it already manufactures and sells a range of televisions with curved displays, promising immersive entertainment alongside high-end picture quality. The company’s top of the range 78-inch television, the HU8500, currently retails for £6,499.99 in the UK.

Reuters says that only Samsung’s subsidiary Samsung Display Co and LG Display Co Ltd are currently the only firms able to mass-produce the flexible displays needed to make curved smartphones, having invested significantly in developing the organic light-emitting diode technology used to manufacture them.

Following a 60 percent drop in smartphone sales last quarter, Samsung is now working on completely redesigning its mobile offerings, with both a mysterious new family of smartphones and a brand new Galaxy S6 reportedly on the way.

The company is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, but has seen increased competition from fellow Android smartphone manufacturers such as LG and Lenovo, as well as Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, both of which were released within the last quarter.

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