CES 2021: LG Teases 'World's First Rollable Smartphone'

LG announced it will launch the world's first rollable smartphone this year, as it offered a sneak peek of the device at CES 2021 with a five-second teaser video.

LG rollable display ces 2021
The clip features a smartphone held in landscape orientation as the display rolls in from an expanded tablet-style form factor screen into a more compact chassis.

The hybrid handset is said to be based on flexible organic light-emitting diode technology, which is reportedly being supplied by China's BOE Technology Group, although the specifics of the tech remain unclear. Speaking at CES, the company told Nikkei Asia that the product would be officially released later this year:

"Our management wanted to show that it is a real product, as there were many rumors around the rollable phone," said Ken Hong, a spokesman for LG. "As it is released at CES 2021, I can tell that it will be launched this year."

lg rollable smartphone
LG's rollable display follows the moderate success of Samsung foldable smartphones, and comes as the LG's phone business is struggling financially due to stiff competition from the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Apple.

Apple has explored rollable displays in the past, based on patents from the company. In March 2020, a patent attributed to Apple appeared on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that describes an "Electronic device with flexible display structures."

The patent details a flexible display that can be wrapped around one or more internal roller mechanisms, allowing the screen to expand out of the chassis. A rigid section remains to house the printed circuit boards and other electronic components, but with the addition of the rollable display layers.

apple patent rollable display
"Elongated bistable support members may run along the edges of the display or may be overlapped by a central active area of the display to help stiffen and support the display in its extended position," explains the patent, which conceives the technology as adaptable to anything from a smartphone to a smartwatch.

As with all Apple patents, there's no indication that Apple has plans to bring such a device to market, but it is interesting to see what sorts of future solutions Apple is eyeing as it seeks to innovate beyond current consumer-use technologies.

Tags: CES 2021, LG

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...

Top Rated Comments

33man Avatar
54 months ago
Code name : Papyrus

and Egyptians will start a patent dispute :):p



Attachment Image
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wyvernspirit Avatar
54 months ago
Earth Final Conflict anyone?

Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
54 months ago
We will be able to scroll on our scrolls. That patent is for the new iScroll.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johns12 Avatar
54 months ago
Oh my. Already nine posts and not one saying, we don't need this, stupid idea, solving no problem, etc. I am happy to see tech advances being looked at through the prism of creativeness.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coredev Avatar
54 months ago
It really looks like CGI to me, this whole shape shifting.
That isn't to say that they have actual prototypes of it.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaRev Avatar
54 months ago
Rollable screens are exciting, I’d rather see them on tablets than phones since phones get tossed around more.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)