Will smartphones armed with curved displays prove a hit during the 2013 holiday season? LG and Samsung might be hoping so, since both companies are reportedly launching such devices within the next few months.

LG confirms it already started mass production of what it claims is "the world’s first flexible OLED panel for smartphones," one replacing glass with plastic as a substrate.

“The flexible display market is expected to grow quickly as this technology is expected to expand further into diverse applications including automotive displays, tablets and wearable devices," the company states. "Our goal is to take an early lead in the flexible display market by introducing new products with enhanced performance and differentiated designs next year."

The Wall Street Journal and CNET report the LG curvy device is called "G Flex," a 6-inch number supposedly slated for a November launch. Sketches of the device probably do not show an actual flexible phone, but one with a slightly bent display similar to the company's curved OLED TVs.

Meanwhile marketing exec D.J. Lee tells Reuters Samsung will launch a curved smartphone by October 2013. The company gives no further details of the device, but rumours suggest a curved version of the Galaxy Note 3 is also in the works.

Like LG Samsung is no stranger to curved displays, having revealed the "Youm" flexible OLED series at CES 2013.

The promise of curvy and flexible mobile devices has been a long time coming. Will 2014 be the year for such devices? Having (wrongly) predicted 2012 as the year of the bendy mobile device, excuse us as we stay away from the crystal ball for the time being...

Go LG Display Mass-Produces World's First Flexible OLED Panel for Smartphones

Go LG to Launch Curved-Screen Smartphone in November (WSJ.com)

Go LG Preps Curved Display Smartphone, the G Flex (CNET)

Go Samsung to Launch Smartphone With Curved Display in October (Reuters)