(VNF) - One model of Apple's next iPhone coming out this year will adopt a flexible display, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

The Cupertino, California-based company has ordered sufficient components to enable mass production, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The tech giant had been studying flexible OLED displays and asked suppliers for prototypes late last year, the Journal said.

The introduction of a curved display will follow suit with rival Samsung, which has a curved screen on some of its models like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

The new screen technology could allow curved screens such as those in Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edg (dailymail uk)

Currently Apple applies flexible OLEDs to just the Apple Watch, the panels of which LG Display and Samsung Display supply.

'It is very likely that the first flexible iPhone may be introduced in 2018, as Apple's top-tier display suppliers are working on it,' the Business Korea said, adding the first flexible iPhone would be rolled out in 2018./.

( VNF )