Thanks to a sudden increase in demand, shipment revenue of flexible AMOLED displays more than tripled in 2017, accounting for 54.6% of total AMOLED panel shipment revenue, according to IHS Markit.
The flexible AMOLED panel market expanded by about 250% in 2017 to $12 billion, from $3.5 billion in 2016, while rigid AMOLED panel shipment revenue contracted by 14% during the same period. Samsung Display started supplying its flexible AMOLED displays for the iPhone X in the third quarter of 2017, which greatly contributed to the overall shipment revenue increase. LG Display, BOE and Kunshan Govisionox Optoelectronics also started producing flexible AMOLED panels for smartphones and smartwatches in 2017, helping the market growth. IHS Markit’s Jerry Kang said:
“High-end smartphone brands have increasingly applied flexible AMOLED panels to their products for unique and special design. The number of flexible AMOLED panel suppliers is also increasing, but the supplying capacity is still concentrated in Samsung Display”.
The flat-type flexible AMOLED panels accounted for about a half of total flexible AMOLED shipment units in 2017, shifting from the curved type that used to be the major flexible AMOLED display form factor until 2016. Kang continued:
“As Apple applied the flat type to the iPhone X, the form factor of smartphone displays has diversified”.
According to the report, the demand for flexible AMOLED panels is not expected to grow as fast as supply capacity in 2018. Kang concluded:
“In a way to overcome potential oversupply, many panel makers are trying to develop another innovative form factor, such as foldable or rollable, within a few years”.
