Self-Repairing Smartphone Displays Expected Within Five Years, Analysts Predict

According to the analyst firm CCS Insight, smartphone equipped with self-repairing displays may become available in the market by 2028, as stated in their tech predictions for 2024 and beyond. Within the next five years, CCS Insight anticipates that smartphone manufacturers will introduce devices with displays possessing “self-healing” properties. This concept involves applying a “nano-coating” on the display’s surface. If the display sustains a scratch, this coating generates a new material that reacts to air exposure and fills the imperfection.

Shaun Wood, a representative of CCS Insight, emphasized that this technology is not confined to science fiction and is feasible. The primary challenge lies in managing expectations appropriately.

The idea of self-repairing smartphone displays has been discussed for several years. LG, for instance, introduced self-healing technology in its smartphones as early as 2013. The company released the G Flex, featuring a curved screen and a “self-healing” coating on the back cover. However, the company still does not disclose this precise functioning of the technology.

Self-Repairing Smartphone Displays Expected Within Five Years, Analysts Predict

Wood clarified that this technology would primarily address minor cosmetic scratches, rather than miraculously restoring severely damaged screens.

Various phone manufacturers have explored self-healing materials in smartphones. Motorola, in 2017, patented a screen composed of a “shape memory polymer” that could repair itself when cracked, with heat facilitating the healing process. Apple also secured a patent for a foldable iPhone with a display cover designed to repair itself after damage.

Nonetheless, the integration of such technology into a commercially successful handset remains a challenge. To achieve this, companies need substantial investments in research and development to discover innovations in smartphone screens. Additionally, substantial financial resources are required for marketing and selling these phones in large quantities, along with ensuring consumers are well-informed about the extent of self-repair capabilities without manual intervention.

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Wood humorously expressed concerns about tech enthusiasts conducting durability tests on self-healing devices, which isn’t the intended purpose. Rather, self-healing technology aims to perform minor surface repairs autonomously.

Phone manufacturers continue to explore innovative display technologies. For example, Motorola unveiled a rollable concept smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which extends vertically when pushed upward. Samsung is also making progress with advanced displays, evident in devices like the folding Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5, capable of enduring hundreds of thousands of folds over their lifetimes.