LG's B Project could be world's first mass-produced rollable smartphone

LG’s vision of developing rollable displays seems to have extended to smartphones as the company is planning to launch a phone with a rollable display. A report suggests we could see a market launch of such a rollable smartphone as early as 2021. 

Sources for TheElec have said that the underdevelopment phone is currently titled B Project. The report says that the naming is after the company’s CEO Kwon Bong-Seok. LG has apparently started the production of the initial prototype at a factory in Pyeongtaek.

Further, the report says Project B will have a display extending sideways and rolled when needed. Interestingly, LG seems to have partnered with Chinese BOE to develop a Flexible OLED display to achieve this feat.

Foldable phones have their own perks when it comes to durability. In the case of LG, the report says the accompanying parts of the rollable display need to be designed perfectly as the display itself isn’t really difficult to achieve considering the pressure is ousted on all sides equally.

• Forget foldable phones: LG is developing 'stretchable' displays
• Check out LG's 65-inch rollable OLED

While the exact mechanism and design of the smartphone is not known as of yet, earlier patents indicate that the device could have a display that will roll out from the side housing. An initial patent of LG in 2018 was published in September last year. 

Not to mention that the patent is very old now and LG could have very well adopted a refined design by clearing possible hurdles. LG has been patenting a lot of designs just like its competitors lately.  But none saw the light of the day.

However, the company in a recent press release stated that it is hoping to make stretchable displays with a 20% elongation rate for devices by 2024. 

The company has been losing a lot of market share with losses mounting for 20 straight quarters and the company hopes that projects like these will bring back morale and boost consumers, say the reports. Let’s hope efforts like these will turn the fortunes for the company.

• Leaked TCL is an alternative to foldable phones, but still has a tablet-like screen