Though delays have seemingly slowed production of Samsung's flexible AMOLED screens, a new report points to production of the ductile displays starting in early 2013.

An anonymous source reportedly told the Wall Street Journal the screens were in the final stage of development at Samsung Display, and that the manufacturer hoped to release the products by the middle of next year.

Samsung debuted the first footage of the technology last December, and originally expected to deliver the first flexible screens in 2012.

That hasn't been the case, though based on this new report it appears as if Samsung is attempting to get the jump on competitors also working on similar screens.

OLED advantage

Made from plastic instead of glass, the prototype screens Samsung has shown off up to this point reveal an incredibly flexible and durable display.

So far, no company has been able to mass produce the displays, but Samsung has been pushing to move from the prototype to commercialization over the course of the past year.

The Wall Street Journal suggested Samsung's ability to invest heavily in the research and development of mass marketing the flexible screens comes from the recent profit windfalls Samsung Electronics received.

With a 91 percent increase in net profits resulting in earnings totalling $6 billion (UK £3.78 billion, AUD$5.78 billion), Samsung clearly had the money to put behind the R&D.

Whether or not the manufacturer can succeed remains to be seen, as Samsung had previously promised the OLED panels would be ready by now, and are still unavailable.

Just how Samsung plans on using the flexible screens is anyone's guess, but the applications could revolutionize both smartphones and tablets for the foreseeable future should they ever move beyond the concept stage.

Via Wall Street Journal