Apple not keen on curved screen smartphone: report

iPhone-maker Apple seems to be not keen on jumping on to the curved screen smartphone bandwagon, and according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the new iPhones expected in the second half of this year would not include a curved display.

Both Samsung and LG, last year introduced a fresh change in the smartphone design with their curved screen phones. Samsung launched Galaxy Round, a phone with vertical curved edges, which was followed by LG's G Flex, boasting a curved screen and a self-healing back.

The phones, which are said to be a step in the direction of fully flexible products, had led to speculation over Apple too launching a phone with flexible screen.

A Bloomberg report had also claimed that Apple was in the process of developing new iPhone designs including ones featuring bigger screens with curved glass and enhanced sensors capable of detecting different levels of pressure.

Meanwhile, a report in Tech Radar said, some recent sketches from the US Patent and Trademark Office revealed that Samsung was working on a phone with curvature that sloped at the edges.

In another development, billionaire Carl Icahn has picked up more  Apple stock for his investment portfolio and suggested some new products in a bid to persuade the iPhone maker to do more to add to its market value.

Icahn announced that he had invested another $500 million in the company in a series of purchases made yesterday (See: Carl Icahn raises stake in Apple to $3 bn).

With the latest move, Icahn has over the past weeks acquired $1 billion on Apple stock to raise his total holdings in the Cupertino, California company to $3.6 billion since he went on a buying spree five months ago when the stock was still trading below $450.

Apple's stock closed at $556.18 yesterday up $4.67, but despite the recent gains, the shares remained about 20 per cent below their peak reached 16 months ago.

Icahn, a long-time activist investor, has been pushing the company's board to lift the stock with a share repurchase (See: Icahn asks Apple board to raise share buy back to $150-bn).

Meeting the activist investor's demands would require that the company spend more on its stock than it planned, something the board was not willing to do.