Oppo unveils rollable phone concept 

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has unveiled a concept smartphone with a rollable display that allows the screen to be pulled in-an-out.

The company showed off the Oppo X 2021 prototype on a stage demo at its Inno Day 2020.

Oppo didn’t announce when the phone will be launched. South Korean firm LG is preparing to launch a similar rollable screen phone in March of next year.

BOE is reportedly the supplier of the OLED panels for Oppo. The Chinese display maker is also supplying the OLED panels for LG’s rollable phone.

Oppo stressed that the screen of its concept phone had no crease when they are rolled.

Oppo X 2021’s maximum size is 7.4 inches and the minimum size is 6.7 inches. The horizontal length can be extended by 53%, the company said.

The scroll effect is achieved by having a portion of the OLED panel laminated onto a track for sturdiness and the panel moves around the roll motor on the left, which has a 6.8mm scroll diameter. The diameter was important for the panel not to crease, Oppo said.

According to Strategy Analytics, Oppo shipped 115.1 million units of smartphones last year, ranking fifth globally. LG moved 29.2 million units, ranking ninth.