Last July we noted a LG Electronics patent filing that described a ‘rollable’ mobile device that allowed the user to expand the size of the device and display by pulling the display out of a hidden roller inside the device.  When not in the extended mode, the display rolls back up as a rollable window shade might.  At the time, LG had been working to develop a foldable/rollable device under a program known as ‘Project B’, looking to find some way to differentiate a foldable product from those already produced by Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola.  Such devices have been under development for many years with the promise of displays that can be greatly extended for reading, yet rolling up to the size of a pen.
Both Samsung and LG have promised such devices, and shown early prototypes, but we still wait for the day when we can pull a readable display out of a pen-sized device, avoiding having to carry a phone or similar piece of bulky electronics.  Chinese brand Oppo (pvt) has teased with a short video of an extendable device and BOE (200725.CH) is said to be closing in on a small sized rollable display, but LG Display might be getting close to being the first to actually commercialize a rollable smartphone, if the short teaser they attached to their CES presentation is any indication.  It’s very short and gives no information as to potential cost or availability, and is still far away from the scrollable pen we are still waiting for, but LG has hinted that it was looking to release a rollable device early this year and while there is no guarantee that the video means anything more than others, LG has considerable experience with rollable devices.

LG already has a rollable OLED TV that is available in South Korea, if you are willing to spend ~$87,000 for the 65” model, but a mobile version would entail far different technology.  The display, depending on the size of the roller, would see even pressure as it rolls or unrolls, rather than the crease point foldable displays see when closed.  While this would reduce potential creasing, the display would have to roll to a size of less than 8mm if the device were to match current smartphones, and the extended structure of the device would have to be rigid enough to keep the display taut and flat, yet easily snapped back to normal size and scrolled.  There have been many patents expounding various mobile device structures to accomplish these goals, along with innumerable scrolling schemes, but taking those patents and translating them into a mass production device that is more than a novelty has proved challenging.  That said, we believe smartphone and display designers and engineers are getting quite close to a commercial ‘rollable’ device and while it might not be the stretchable pen we are looking for, it would be a first step toward same.

The Korean press has noted that Apple (AAPL) has received criticism for ‘disregarding Korea’ by announcing an additional $508m investment in two R&D centers in China, following the promise to build two other R&D centers in Beijing and Shenzhen.  Apple has yet to open an Apple store in South Korea, although one is being developed in Seoul although no date for opening has been set.  However they have 40 stores in China, with the R&D centers seen as a way to build what has been a declining share on the Chinese mainland.

Despite the country rhetoric, there are real reasons why Apple has not focused on South Korea, with the most obvious being it is the home of rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics (066570.KS), who have a distinct home court advantage.  But the country points to the fact that South Korea has the highest smartphone penetration rate (88%) of any country worldwide, while China is in the middle of the pack at 58.5%.  That misses the point however that South Korea has a population of ~50.5m, while China has a population of 1.38b, so the simple math says South Korea has 44.4m individual smartphone users, while China has 808.5m smartphone users, or 18.2x as many, making the decision relatively simple from an economic standpoint.