What They Say
DSCC has a new report on foldable and rollable smartphones and published a blog article that revealed some highlights including news of a win by Corning in sharing supply for the Samsung Z Flip 3 along with the incumbent supplier, Schott. Corning’s UTG will be processed by Korean supplier eCONY who will perform the glass thinning, chemical strengthening and cutting steps. DSCC also believes that the win will help pave the way for Apple to enter the foldable market given Apple’s close reliance on Corning glass in the smartphone market. The blog said that there was also a structural change on the Z Flip 3 display film stack increasing the overall display stack thickness by 8%. The Z Flip 3 is now thicker below the panel than above the panel, unlike the Z Flip 5G. There are more details in the article.
Other product related highlights include:
- The Huawei Mate X2 now has the industry’s thinnest display film stack at well under 500 µm, below last year’s Z Flip 5G and Z Fold 2;
- While DSCC was the first to report previously that Google, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi would introduce new UTG in-folding foldables in late 2021 using panels from Samsung Display, DSCC is now reporting that they will be closely followed by Honor’s Magic Fold using in-folding panels from BOE and Visionox;
- One company not introducing a new foldable this year is Motorola. The next Razr now isn’t expected until the second half of 2022 as they look to re-invent their foldable design.
DSCC expects Apple to enter the foldable market in 2023 which will boost the category. Other categories will lag well behind smartphones with barriers including software support and technical issues in big panels.
The analyst expects foldable/rollable panel revenues to grow at a 90% CAGR from 2020 to 2025 to $13 billion with smartphone panels growing at an 85% CAGR to $11.5 billion and its share declining to 89% by 2025.
What We Think
The shipment chart that DSCC published highlights the different volumes for panels, phone production and shipment when the market is expanding so rapidly. (BR)
2019 – 2021 Foldable Smartphone Shipments and Production
2020 – 2025 Foldable and Rollable Display Shipments by Application
