Samsung’s flexible smartphone and tablet dreams slowed by production delays

Samsung’s ambitions to create smartphones and tablets with flexible screens have hit another major technical hurdle, with current production techniques having a bit impact on manufacturing time.

According to Korean press reports, the problems lie with the company’s screen encapsulation technology.

The problems stem from the fact that OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays are vulnerable to moisture and oxygen and need air-tight and water-tight encapsulation.

However, Samsung’s current technique, the Vitex System, which was purchased by the Korean electronics giant in late 2011, results in significant manufacturing delays.

As SmartCompany reported in January, Samsung demonstrated a working curved-screen OLED television at the 2013 CES, showing it had overcome most of the technical challenges in creating functioning flexible screen devices.

However, production and commercialisation issues have plagued the development of the technology.

Samsung first ran into production difficulties in October last year, with reports surfacing that a “senior industry official” claimed problems with production yields were delaying the mass-production of flexible active matrix OLED displays. At the time, the company hoped to resolve the issues by the close of 2012, with mass-production expected at the time to begin early this year.