Next Google Pixel Phone May Use Curved OLED Display

The smartphone world has gone rather crazy for OLED screens with curved edges thanks in part to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and the new Galaxy S8 smartphones. Rumors have it that the coming high-end iPhone 8 smartphone will use OLED panels with curved edges, but will stop short of having any information displayed on those curved edges like Samsung offers.

Now another rumor has surfaced and this one claims that Google has spent significant money in an effort to secure its own OLED screens with curved edges. A report cited by Business Insider claims that Google has offered to invest $880 million in LG Display Co. to secure a stable supply of flexible OLED panels or its next smartphone.

This massive investment from Google isn’t a go at this point as LG Display is still considering the proposal. LG Display may be the only place that Google is able to get a supply of curved OLED screens. Samsung is running at near max capacity after signing a deal with Apple that sees as many as 160 million curved OLED panels earmarked for Apple’s upcoming iPhone model.

Samsung and LG Display’s nearest rival is Japan Display Inc and that company stated back in January that it won’t be making its own flexible OLED displays until 2018. Other than the curved OLED rumors, Google is also said to be improving the camera in the next Pixel and working on a low power and less expensive version for emerging markets.