Last Updated on September 21, 2018 by Larious
Here’s a fresh rumor that is all kinds of interesting. Press in South Korea are reporting that Google is in talks to invest one trillion KRW ($875 million) in LG Display, one of the world’s most prominent producer of screens for smartphones and tablets, in a move to give its Pixel smartphones some curves.
The Yonhap News Agency, citing sources, said that the investment would be strategic and not merely a purchase order because the firm is keen to develop OLED panels for future Google Pixel smartphones. That, it said, would reduce Google’s reliance on suppliers like Samsung Display, a sister company of rival Samsung that works on Apple’s iPhones, and allow it to introduce a curved display on future Pixel models.
Google declined to comment on the report. LG Display did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
The Pixel was launched last October to rave reviews. TechCrunch’s own Brian Heater went so far as to call it “Android’s best ambassador,” and if this deal does go through then Google is taking some cues from Samsung, which has pioneered curved screens. The tech was first put into a Samsung phone in 2013 — remember the Galaxy Round?! — but now it is present in its flagship Galaxy S8 phones, not to mention the ill-fated Note 7. Even Apple is said to be weighing up a curved screen, according to the latest missives from the iPhone 8 rumor mill.