Rather than fearing the future, Samsung may be looking forward to inventing it.

Samsung Electronics, the worlds largest smartphone maker, may be looking forward to the end of Moores Law as a way to gain a new competitive edge, according to Mehdi Hosseini, an analyst with Susquehanna International Group.

Moores Law, the observation by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965 that the number of transistors per surface area on a semiconductor doubles every year may be on its last legs, according to a KPMG survey of industry executives.

The battleground will become very interesting next year, Hosseini said in an interview with EE Times. If Samsung is able to commercialize a flexible display, thats going to be a game changer.

Within the next two years, the competitive edge in the smartphone business will not be about the chips that go into handsets, he says. Instead, it will be about the display, user friendliness and form factor.

Samsung is preparing for that future through an agreement with Universal Display Corp. of the US that allows Samsung to use the US companys technology to manufacture organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays for a new generation of wearable devices that can be clipped on a wrist, according to Hosseini.

Apple Inc., which makes more than 90 percent of the profit in the smartphone business, would probably be the first company to feel the heat if Samsungs bet comes true, Hosseini says. Apple, unlike Samsung, outsources all of its manufacturing.

That explains why LG Display, which supplies more than half of Apples flat screens, just a month ago signed an agreement with Universal Display similar to the Samsung pact, according to Hosseini.

Apple is already thinking about next year, Hosseini says. Apple could be under pressure.

Longer term, the implications of an end to Moores Law are far reaching, potentially affecting the huge multibillion-dollar ecosystem of companies that have grown up to support the silicon chip industry. Indeed, Samsung Electronics, the worlds second-largest chipmaker, faces a large impact should Moores Law stop in its tracks.

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Samsung Wants Moores Law End, Analyst Says