The Flexible Display Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34.8% over the forecast period (2021-2026). Flexible displays offer various advantages over conventional display technologies, which exhibit lightweight, bendable, ultra-thin, shatter-proof, unbreakable, portable, and low energy consumption. Although curved displays offer notable improvements over flat displays regarding viewing angle and depth of picture quality, they are not the same as the flexible and foldable ones.

OLED display type has gained popularity in recent times, due to its simplified design, better image quality, and limited flexibility. OLED screens do not involve backlighting and can be thinned and molded into specific shapes (one of these being the curved screens). Currently, the OLED display types are expensive to produce for large screens devices, such as televisions and computer monitors, but still, gain benefits for economies of scale in this segment.

- Additionally, Samsung uses its property of OLED display to offer mobile devices that come with foldable displays. For instance, Samsung's first foldable device uses two screens with a large 7.3" 1532x2152 (361 PPI) foldable AMOLED that folds inside, and a smaller 4.5" 840x1960 AMOLED that is used when the phone is closed. The company has branded the display as the Samsung Infinity Flex Display. However, the Galaxy Fold is relatively thick, bulky, and expensive as well.

- The most significant advantage flexible displays is its durability. Since, this screen can be bent and manipulated, it tends to absorb fall and collision impact better than solid glass structures that are currently in the application. Furthermore, the use of plastic substrates results in broken screens becoming a thing of the past. However, that flexibility is expected to get commercialized only by the end of the forecast period, leading to the increased usage of plastic or metals instead of glass in the flexible and bendable screens.
- For instance, some of the emerging manufacturers, like Corning, are currently working on a flexible glass, termed as Willow. The company expects it to be used in a variety of things that have displays ranging from telephones to televisions to carry devices. Willow is as thin as a piece of paper and can bend. But given the current technological constraints, it still breaks on getting rolled.
- Other potential applications of flexible displays in future include the integration in clothing that changes color or pattern instantly as per the surroundings. This makes these useful for security officials and soldiers. On the other hand, the use of flexible screens in automotive applications has opened avenues for flexible displays in the future, as more dashboards are going digital. For instance, Mercedes E-Class has display infotainment indicators and infotainment data on a 12.3-inch HD display that extends on the dashboard. Tesla and X models have a substantial 17-inch central display
- Furthermore, some of the prominent smartphone manufacturers have already patented their design integrated into foldable devices. For instance, in May 2019, Apple has won a patent for a foldable screen that could be used on iPhones and other devices. Additionally, LG had trademarked its four new brands namely LG Flex, LG Foldi, LG Duplex, and LG Bendi, indicating that it is moving closer to launching its foldable display smartphones in its upcoming launch events.
- At the starting of 2020 , Xiaomi and Huawei had planned to use foldable smartphone panels from Samsung Display . Earlier, Huawei Mate X used foldable panels from China's BOE while Xiaomi's Mi Mix Alpha used a flexible display from another Chinese display maker, Visionox . In the last year, Xiaomi had patented a pull -out phone with a side bar. The patent was approved and published in December 2019 and it will use foldable smartphone panels from Samsung Display.
- COVID-19 has negatively impacted the market sudied, due to shutting down of many cities, damaging the supply chain for phone and display production and cutting smartphone sales throughout in the world. This trend is expected to remain for the coming months since customer's perferences will be more inclined towards essential goods.

Key Market Trends

OLED Technology Segment is Expected to Witness the Highest Growth

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- Flexible displays constructed from OLED are energy efficient when compared to other variants. OLEDs are available in a very small form factor making it possible for the manufacturers to construct them as individual pixels. They are already induced into several consumer electronics, such as curved OLED TVs etc., creating a considerable demand.
- OLED display systems have gained popularity in recent times, due to their simplified design, better image quality, and limited flexibility as of now. OLED screens do not involve backlighting, so they can be thinned and molded into specific shapes, one of such being the curved screens. Samsung uses this property of OLED display to offer mobile devices that come with curved displays.

- In Asia-Pacific countries, such as China, India, and South Korea, the operating revenue from mobile devices is still high as compared to other regions owing to the continuous demand for a device upgrade. For instance, in 2019, the sales revenue of mobile devices manufactured by the South Korean electronics manufacturer LG Display amounted to more than SKW 6.4 trillion. LG Display saw an increased sales revenues in the mobile categories compared to the previous year.

Asia-Pacific is Expected to Witness the Highest Growth Rate

- The Asia-Pacific is emerging as a vital and essential region for the development of flexible displays, particularly in the consumer electronics industry. Most countries in the region share a steady growth primarily related to flexible displays, particularly the ones in East Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore).
- OLED displays are witnessing an increased demand for mass production as end-users across various industry verticals are emphasizing on the importance of high-quality displays.
- Advancements in material technologies are driving the development of new applications of flexible electronics, and flexible displays are expected to account for a significant share of the market demand and revenues over and beyond the forecast period.

- Emerging players in the market are filing patents for their technology, which is likely to increase the competition in the market. For instance, Sharp has reportedly filed multiple patents for its flexible displays that could be included in smartphones and gaming devices.

- Moreover, the players in the market are investing huge amount for the enhancement of their production facilities, primarily to mass-produce products, catering to the increasing demand.
- For instance, in July 2019, LG Display announced that it would invest KRW 3 trillion (around USD 2.6 billion) in its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels production line in South Korea plant. The company with this investment aims to shift its mainstay liquid crystal display (LCD) business toward the next-generation OLED panels, as the LCD panel industry is saturated with Chinese rivals.

- Furthermore, Samsung Display announced its decision to invest KRW 13.1 trillion (around USD 10.85 billion) in QD-OLED TV R&D and production lines. The investment plan will span across six years (2019-2025) and the first step will be to convert an LCD production line in SDC's L8 fab in Tangjong, Korea to QD-OLED production. Additionally, the Tangjong line is expected to be converted from 125k monthly substrates of LCD production to 30k monthly QD-OLED substrates, and mass production will begin in Q1 of 2021.

- Players in the market are focusing on R&D activities to innovate products and offer unique products in the market. For instance in the recent past, Royole Corp, a manufacturer of flexible displays and smart devices, launched a large-screen foldable device, which can be bent and rolled to function both as a smartphone and tablet. The product, known as the FlexPai, is equipped with the company's latest flexible display technology. They offered 7.8-inch high-resolution screen which is 7.6 millimetres thick and can be bent over 200,000 times.
- Moreover, Samsung Electronics started the production of its foldable OLED display smartphones, called Galaxy fold and as of April 2019, these devices were ready for commercial sales. Similarly, Japan Display signed a deal with the Apple, in order to provide an OLED screen for Apple2019 watch device.

- The emergence of wearables, such as watches, and other devices, are also expected to provide the market the impetus, for demand generation. Wearable displays are being developed with the usage of soft materials, such as a quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) display of ultrathin layers.

Competitive Landscape

The Flexible Display Market is fragmented. The use of curved screens in automotive applications, the growing adoption of smartphones, and television provide lucrative opportunities in the flexible display market. Overall, the competitive rivalry among the existing competitors is high. Furthermore, acquisitions and collaboration of large companies are expected, which are focused on innovation. Some of the key players in the market are LG Display Co and BOE Technology Group Co.

- Sep 2020 - Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 2 at the Galaxy Unpacked 2020 Part 2 virtual event. The new foldable phone is the third in the series that the company started with the Galaxy Fold in the previous year. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 comes with a series of upgrades over the Galaxy Fold as well as Galaxy Z Flip that was launched earlier this year.

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