The problem with today’s foldable phones is that the displays are still made out of plastic. Since plastic is kind of malleable, it makes sense to use it for foldable displays, but at the same time, plastic is softer than glass which raises some questions about the durability and longevity of foldables.However, LG Chem thinks they might have the answer. The company has developed a foldable display using new materials technologies that they claim have resulted in the display being as hard as glass, but still remaining as flexible as plastic. One of the tricks of this new display is that it can actually fold in either direction. This is versus current foldable displays which are optimized to fold in one direction.
To create this display, LG Chem has used a PET film on both sides with the new coating technology they developed. According to an LG Chem spokesperson, “Unlike existing polyimide films and tempered glass-type materials, the cover window that applied LG Chem’s new coating technologies will maximize flexibility, while also providing optimized solutions for foldable phones such as making improvements to chronic issues like fold impressions on the connecting part of the screen.”
It should be noted that this development doesn’t mean that LG is getting back into mobile. LG Chem is a separate division in the company, so more than likely, this tech will be used to produce flexible displays for other companies, such as Apple who have been rumored to be looking into developing a foldable phone of its own.