Samsung is to introduce flexible screen phones next year, presumably for the South Korean market first. The company has also said that it plans to introduce the technology to tablets and other portable devices.

Pocket-lint played with the Nokia bendable handset concept at Nokia World earlier this week, but Samsung has revealed that it will be bringing similar tech to market in 2012: "The flexible display, we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part," said vice president Robert Yi, while explaining that the company's overall profit fell 23 per cent in the last year, thanks mainly to the chip and display sectors.

"The application probably will start from the handset side," he added.

Bendy Super-AMOLED displays have been on the agenda for some time, with Samsung showing off its technology this time last year.

It exhibited a 4.5-inch flexible Super-AMOLED display at the FPD International Expo in Tokyo in November 2011, which also boasted a WVGA resolution of 800 x 480. That particular sample can be rolled into a tube 1cm in radius.

Of course, the challenges will be where to put the battery, SIM slot, antenna, processor and the rest of the gubbins, but this is the clearest indication that those particular issues have already been addressed.

What do you think of the idea of bendy smartphones? Gimmick or could you think of a practical use? Let us know in the comments below...