Last month during Lenovo’s press conference, the company surprised everyone when they showed off a prototype of a smartphone that could be bent and wrapped around the wrist of the wearer. While we obviously can’t buy the device right now, the good news is that Lenovo doesn’t think that the technology is very far off from being a commercial reality.Speaking to CNBC during an interview, Lenovo’s co-president of mobile Aymar de Lencquesaing stated that we would probably be able to see the tech become a reality in the next 5 years. “It’s hard to put an exact time frame on it. I think this is a product that could come to market in the next five years … the next couple is a bit aggressive, in particular because the equation of technology, novelty and price point. So you have to have a product that you can deliver the market that makes it a good value proposition.”
So far in terms of bendable devices, companies like Samsung and LG have made some headway by creating devices with displays that are flexible enough to be bent. However these bent displays are fixed meaning that they aren’t 100% flexible, just flexible enough to hold its shape without breaking.
At the same time, there have been rumors that Samsung could be getting pretty close and could be launching their first truly bendable smartphone in 2017. Exactly how much flex this phone will have remains to be seen, but it will certainly be interesting.
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