Samsung is bringing its expertise in curved displays to its smartphones as it tries to to set the pace of hardware innovation and maintain its supremacy in the competitive business.
The company plans to introduce a smartphone with a curved and bendable display in October, potentially another variant of the Note 3. Note 3 boasts a 5.7-inch screen and costs $990 in South Korea without a carrier contract. It will be available in 140 nations by October.
"We plan to introduce a smartphone with a curved display in South Korea in October," Samsung's mobile business head of strategic marketing D.J. Lee said on Wednesday at an event launching the Galaxy Note 3 smartphone in Seoul.
Samsung did not clarify whether these curved displays will be organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products. However, the company is expected to begin shipping its first flexible OLED display - a 5-inch screen - in the second half of 2013.
The buzz about flexible displays has been growing louder, ever since Samsung Display demonstrated its
Youm line of bendable OLED products at the Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of this year in January.
However, mass production of such panels is not cheap.
Samsung isn't alone in exploring devices with curved displays. Its biggest smartphone rival Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like iOS devices that sport curved glass, which may be released next year.
Curved displays are already available in large-screen televisions. Samsung and its home rival LG Electronics Inc had started selling curved OLED TV sets this year priced at about $9,000.
In a separate meeting with local reporters, Samsung SDI CEO Park Sang-jin said, "It's possible to develop a battery that could be twisted and bent."