For a significant number of years, Samsung has been known to tease customers with the idea of bendable screens on mobile devices. A possibility that, inside sources in the company, are now saying is closer to reality, as close, they say, as 2017.

Sources within Samsung have stated that the global giant is planning to release two devices based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens as early as February 2017. These screens will allow the device to either fold in half, like a book, or have a smaller 5-inch screen that unfurls into a display that is 8-inches, similar to the size of a tablet.

The push for advanced displays by the biggest smartphone OLED panel supplier is in its bid to recapture the market in light of its drop in sales over the last two years. Samsung has used innovative display technology before — in its edge devices, using newer and more advanced display technology might just let the company recapture some of the marketshare it lost to Apple and other Chinese mobile manufacturers.

According to the sources the release of these innovative devices (codenamed ‘Project Valley’), which would not be under the Galaxy ‘S’ branding, should coincide with the Mobile World Congress that takes place in Barcelona in February 2017. This would help give the company a head start on Apple as it releases its own OLED based devices later that year.

Samsung’s re-branding is not limited to the launch of new devices only — earlier this year, rumours leaked from within Samsung that the next generation of Note devices might skip a model number to be labeled as Galaxy Note 7. This move is to bring the series number to be on par with the Galaxy ‘S’ series as well as Apple’s iPhone range, as the inside sources claimed the company feared that the lower model number confuses the public into assuming that it is an inferior device.

The push behind OLED technology has been the ability of those screens to be brighter, thinner and consume less battery than the display panels found on devices traditionally. The success of OLED screens has been evident as the Samsung wins more and more contracts for the same.

Recently the Moxi Group, based in Chongqing, China, has released a black and white bendable device, and plans to follow up with a coloured version soon. At the same time, Suwon, a South Korean company, has released concept videos of bendable phones, however they still have to make their way into the market.

Insiders in the company have revealed that Samsung plans to supply OLED screens to Apple and that talks about the same have already occured. This would be a reminiscence of the times when Samsung supplied chips and displays for the silicon valley giant until the relationship soured when Apple sued them and begin a long drawn out court battle.