14 DAY TRIAL // Having a flagship smartphone with dual-edge curved display is not something out of the ordinary anymore since many handset makers quickly embraced the technology. However, it's quite unusual for a mid-range smartphone to include such a high-standard display.
The costs of producing dual-edge displays are not low enough to enable companies to include them in mid-range or even low-end smartphones.
The good news is many display makers like Samsung have decided to upgrade their manufacturing lines for the mass production of flexible OLED displays.
Both Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 are rumored to pack flexible OLED displays, whereas most of today's flagships are still packing rigid dual-edge curved displays.
A new report coming from South Korea claims Samsung Display is now testing various new technologies at its lines for flexible OLEDs, in order to cut production costs and increase the output.
Once the company achieves these goals, it will start using the rigid OLEDs in mid-range smartphones as well.
It's also worth mentioning that once the iPhone 8 with flexible OLED is released next year, Chinese smartphone makers will start packing rigid OLEDs into their mid-range smartphones.
Sources in the smartphone industry claim Samsung is already working on bringing rigid OLEDs into its devices and has decided to use dual-edge OLED panels, which are exclusively used inside flagships, for the Galaxy A series.
Obviously, that will not happen this year, so the next mid-range smartphones that could pack dual-edge curved displays could the Galaxy A (2018) series, which is expected to be unveiled at the end of next year.
As Samsung Display and other manufacturers in the mobile display industry will bolster production of flexible OLED panels, rigid dual-curved displays could become pretty common for mid-range and even low-end smartphones.
On a side note, research company Ubi Research estimates that the percentage of flexible OLED panels will reach about 70% in all of OLED smartphones in 2021, as many companies will invest in this type of display.