Foldable TVs Soon: LG to sell televisions That Roll Up Like Posters

LG Electronics Inc. plan to begin selling big screen TVs next year that can be rolled up and put away like a poster the center piece of an effort to revive an ailing business according to a person with the matter.

The envisioned 65 inch TVs will retract automatically at the touch of a button like a garage door the person said on condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter. They will sport organic light-emitting diode or OLED screens, which produce crisper images and fold more easily than traditional LCD or liquid-crystal display panels.

LG is counting on so-called rollable and OLED televisions to revive a consumer electronic business that is grappling with price declines and stiffening Chinese competition. The South Korean conglomerate is shedding workers to streamline and refocus around future technologies, such as flexible displays. A prototype of the television displayed at LGs research center in Seoul can be rolled up and stuffed into a box when not in use.

The company show off the rollable screen technology earlier this year but 2019 will mark it is first commercial release in TVs. LGs declined to comment.

OLED TVs are estimated to account for just 1.1% of the market this year while LCDs claim almost 98% according to data tracker Statistic. But unit shipments of OLED TVs are projected to grow 70% next year to 4 million from an estimated 2.35 million this year, it said.

LG is also preparing to make it is mark on fifth generation or 5G wireless technology, which is expected to revolutionize the mobile internet and power up a plethora of gadgets from home appliances to cars. LG will likely unveil its first 5G smartphone at next year Mobile World Congress the person said. U.S. telecommunications giant Sprint Corp. announced in August it is working with LG to bring a device that runs on 5G to the U.S. in the first half. Plans for it is own home market of Korea remain unclear the person added.

While Apple Inc. plans to  be hold off until at least 2020 before offering a 5G iPhone, Samsung Electronics Co. is said to plan rolling out it is entry next year after first introducing three versions of its new flagship to be dubbed the Galaxy S10. Samsung is also said to be working on scroll able and stretchable screens that could eventually go into smartphones. The company declined to comment on its progress.