It is highly speculated that Samsung is developing a smartphone with a flexible screen. This has been in the rumor mill for quite some time now and it was even expected to happen this year. However, consumers will not be seeing one until 2017, new rumors say.

Samsung is reportedly deep into developing a foldable smartphone. Its new product is said to be a 5-inch phone that can turn into a 7-inch tablet, as ETNews reported. It also stated that the South Korean tech giant will only be able to mass-produce the foldable screen by the end of this year and will roll out foldable smartphones by next year.

The report also claimed that a prototype of the foldable display has already been created but Samsung cannot push it further because of other unfinished projects.

A source familiar with the technology said, "Although mass-production cannot be concluded hastily since Samsung Electronics still has few other major tasks to complete, I've heard that Samsung Electronics had made considerable amount of results in the time being."

GSM Arena added that the foldable smartphone is known internally as Project Valley and also reported some possible designs.

Back in 2011, the Kyocera Echo and Sony Xperia Tablet P introduced a similar concept, but they do not have foldable screens. The units comprise two LCD screens that can act as a single screen or two separate screens. However, the body portion where the hinge is located always interferes when the screens are viewed.

Past rumors with regard to the specs stated that Samsung was testing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 620 and 820 processors and will be using a 3GB RAM.

DitialTrends reported that LG has already expressed its intention to produce its own flexible screen to be available in the market by next year.

Samsung has not yet issued any official statement with regard to their flexible display screen.