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Foldable Phones Predicted to Exceed 100 Million Units by 2026

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According to UBI Research’s “1Q22 Small OLED Display Market Track” Small OLED Display (10-inches or smaller watch, smartphone, foldable phone, etc.) shipment in 2021 was 746 million, a 34.4% increase from the previous year’s 555 million. The reason for the increase in shipments compared to 2020 can be attributed to the increased sales of iPhone 12, iPhone13, and the unexpectedly strong sales of Galaxy Z’s Fold 3 and Flip 3.

Compared to the previous year, Small OLED sales in 2021 was up from $26.5 billion to $38.1 billion, a 43.9% increase.

Graphs are categorized by application product; Watch, Smartphone, Foldable Phone.

Since 2019, foldable phones have been on an upward trend. The market for foldable phones in 2021 exceeded 10 million units, accounting for 1.4% of all small displays. It is predicted that foldable phones’ yearly upward trend will result in exceeding 100 million units by 2026, accounting for 9.7% of all small displays.

“1Q 2022, Small OLED Display Market Track” analyzes the production capacity for 10-inches or smaller OLED Displays. Quarterly sales market and shipment market were investigated by these categories; major panel makers, country, generation, substrate, TFT technology (LTPO and LTPS), and by application products (watch, smartphone, foldable phone).

An analysis of ASP and OLED supply/demand by application is also provided. Small OLED Display market forecast data is predicted until 2026 on Excel.

China Aims for the Foldable Phone Market with Multiple Foldable Phone Launches

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Samsung Electronics widely successful release of its foldable phones, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 last year has risen expectations for establishing foldable phones into the mainstream. Chinese companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo are also releasing multiple foldable phones.

As the first foldable phone in China, Huawei has been releasing the Mate X series every year since its launch in 2019. The Mate X and the Mate Xs released in 2020 are 8 inches in size and folds outward. The external display is 6.6 inches with a resolution of 1148×2480 and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9.

Mate X2 was introduced in February 2021 with 8 inches for the internal display and the external display is 6.45 inches OLED with a resolution of 1160 x 2700 and an aspect ratio of 21:9. Colorless PI was applied to the cover window. Mate X2 folds inward instead of Mate X’s outward folding display.

P50 Pocket released in December 2021 is a clamshell phone similar to the Samsung Flip 3. The internal display is 6.9 inches with 120Hz refresh rate and an aspect ratio of 21:9. The cover window is 1.1 inches circular type.

Honor released a foldable phone, Magic V on January 10th 2022.

The internal display is 8 inches with 90Hz refresh rate and the external display is 6.5 inches with 120Hz refresh rate. The cover window is colorless PI. Both internal and external panels are made in BOE B11(Mianyang) line. The initial production is estimated to be 50,000 and the estimated total production volume is 100,000 to 200,000.

According to the sales result, the Visionox panel might be applied to the product.

Vivo is about to release a new foldable, the NEX FOLD. Vivo filed patents for NEX FOLD, NEX ROLL, and NEX SLIDE.

NEX fold’s internal display is 8.03 inches with QHD 120Hz and the external display is 6.53 inches with FHD 120Hz. Both internal and external display has the same refresh rate. The display panel is Samsung Display’s LTPO, and the cover window is planned to be 30 um thickness UTG.

It is planned to be released in March 2022, but no official announcement has been made.

Samsung Display is using UTG(Ultra Thin Glass) for the cover window and most Chinese panel companies are using Colorless PI. Many Chinese companies are introducing foldable phones, but durability issues are reported on many social network media posts. Chinese panel makers still have much to go in terms of quality in technology and production cost when compared to Samsung Display.