During the presentation, Samsung Electronics also launched a new brand name for them, Youm.

OLEDs emit their own light, so they don't need the thick, heavy backlight that makes LCDs rigid. At its CES keynote, Samsung showed an OLED screen the size of a smartphone that could bend like a sheet of paper but appeared to display bright, vibrant colors.

"We're so confident in the market potential for flexible OLEDs that we're creating an entire new line under the Youm brand name," said a Samsung engineer who showed the prototype.

He also showed a prototype smartphone fitted with one of the displays, which wrapped around the device to cover the left and right edges. It means if the phone were lying face down on a table, important messages could be displayed running along the edges, like a ticker display.

Samsung put together a video to show other possible uses. They included a USB stick with a display that could be rolled out the side like a scroll and then rolled back when it's no longer needed.

Samsung didn't say when the flexible displays or curved screens will be available on phones, but it's not the only company working on that.