Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Samsung's new flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel went successfully through a tough test based on military standards to win certification from a U.S.-based global safety certification company, paving the way for the production of foldable smartphones.

Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement Thursday that the certification came from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), an official safety testing company for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The company said its panel, made with an "unbreakable" substrate and an overlay window, passed UL's durability test, based on military standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense -- drop test and temperature test in extreme heat and cold.

"The Samsung unbreakable panel continued to function normally with no damage to its front, sides or edges," it said. Samsung has consistently applied for patents related to foldable smartphones since it unveiled the prototype of a plastic flexible display at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2013

Recently, Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE have released the prototypes of foldable smartphones, but they have a long way to go for commercialization. Samsung's certified flexible display panel is strong enough to be actually used.

"The fortified plastic window is especially suitable for portable electronic devices not only because of its unbreakable characteristics, but also because of its lightweight, transmissivity and hardness, which are all very similar to glass," a Samsung Display official was quoted as saying.

The UL-certified panel can be used widely from car display consoles and portable devices to electronic products which require high durability.