LG reveals curved batteries a day after flexible screens went into production

Korean electronics giant LG revealed it has put curved batteries into mass production, just a day after it announced the mass production of flexible AMOLED screens.

The Korea Times reports LG chemicals and batteries subsidiary LG Chem has revealed that, since July, the company has been mass-producing curved batteries at its plant in Nanjing, China.

The curved battery is designed to power smartphones and other portable devices using a curved display screen, and comes just one day after the company announced it is putting devices with flexible screens into mass production.

During the official unveiling in Seoul, the company noted that the automotive sector was another potential market for its technology.

“This is one of the greatest achievements for us. LG Chem will expand our leadership in small-sized batteries as well as continue our expansion in being the ongoing leader in car batteries and those for energy storage solutions,” says LG Chem executive Kwon Young-soo.

“We’ve successfully developed batteries that haven’t existed before with our own patents, and that advancement is going to help us take the lead over our rivals in the race for next-generation digital devices.”

In August last year, SmartCompany revealed scientists at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea had invented a “bendable” lithium-ion battery that can continuously deliver a charge even while it is being flexed or folded.

Meanwhile, Korea IT News reports Samsung Display is also mass producing flexible smartphone displays, although unlike LG it has not announced it publicly.

While Samsung is looking to release a flexible screen smartphone, currently both LG and Samsung can only produce about a million displays per month each on their pilot production lines, which is not enough volume to support a mass-market smartphone.

However, both companies hope flexible displays will provide a spark to boost the stagnant display market.

“The pilot line operation can lead to a full-scale mass-production investment if market response for the flexible display smart phone is favourable,” a Samsung Display source told Korea IT News.