iPhone 6, Galaxy S5 won't go all curvy, say analysts
Limited production of curved displays will leave the screens of the next iPhone and Galaxy phone flat, reports The Korea Herald. Will buyers care?
Consumers who want a little curve thrown in to their next iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone may have to wait a while.
The curved display found on Samsung's Galaxy Round and LG's G Flex won't pop up in the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5, according to The Korea Herald. Citing industry analysts, the Korean news site said on Sunday that Samsung Display and LG Display are having trouble producing enough screens for their existing curved phones.
"The current capacity for flexible panels is not high enough for the Galaxy S5, which will be rolled out early next year," Kim Jong-hyun, an analyst at Seoul-based Eugene Investment & Securities, told The Herald. "Curved ones will be unveiled late next year as a Galaxy variant rather than as a flagship model."
Another analyst, John Seo at Shinhan Investment, said that it would be difficult for Apple to adopt a curved display next year, though 2015 might be more plausible.
Are consumers chomping at the bit for curved-display smartphones? Hardly. Samsung has sold only around 10,000 Galaxy Rounds since the phone launched in Korea in early October, International Business Times and other sources reported last month. The LG G Flex is also suffering from slow sales, according to Korea IT News.
The problem? Neither Samsung nor LG has adequately explained why consumers would want a curved-display smartphone.
"The poor sales number for the Galaxy Round do not come as a huge surprise," Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director for Kantar Worldpanel, told International Business Times UK. "Consumers love product innovation, but they need to be clearly told the benefits it will bring to them before they buy in."