Both Samsung and LG will have products on the market with flexible screens in November

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Published 20 Aug 2013

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According to the Korean site ET News, both Samsung and LG will have devices out on the market by the end of this year that use flexible screen technology. Now before you get too excited, note that “flexible” in this case means screens that are bent on a single plane, then likely fixed in one position. Put another way, don’t expect to see a phone with a screen that can roll up like an Egyptian scroll.

Assuming Samsung can obtain 100% yields at their factories, they should should be able to ship 1.5 million 5 inch to 6 inch flexible panels per month starting this November. Yields are never 100%, however, so let’s be generous and assume they’ll be 66 percent. That’s still about a million panels a month. Not enough to go mainstream, but for a super-ultra-flagship phone? It can work.

Besides being flexible, why should you be interested in this new display technology? The screens themselves are not made out of glass, they’re made out of a plastic substrate that’s far more resistant to damage. You’ll hear the term “unbreakable” get thrown around a lot, and while I think that’s pushing it, you’ll definitely be able to drop your flexi-phone to the ground and not have to worry about it getting a nasty hairline fracture.