Samsung Display plans to export foldable panels, buyers may be OPPO and vivo

CINNO Research Industry News: Samsung Display (hereinafter referred to as SDC) will supply folding panels to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. This is the first time that SDC has supplied folding panels for mobile phones. The industry commented that SDC is expanding its folding panel business, a high value-added product.

According to a report by Korean media etnews on January 25, SDC plans to supply folding panels to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. The specific time is to start mass production and supply in the third quarter, and the shipment volume of folding panels will reach 1 million units this year.

Table: SDC's 2021 folding panel shipment plan (unit: 1,000 units)

The foldable panels that SDC plans to supply to Chinese manufacturers are two types: vertical folding Flip Type and horizontal folding Fold Type. Both panels have been commercialized through Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold products that have been launched.

The supply plan has been reflected in SDC's business plan, and it is actually working on development with Chinese mobile phone manufacturers.
Industry insiders familiar with the matter revealed that SDC has previously developed with several Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, all of which are planned to be launched in the second half of the year.

 This is the first time that SDC has supplied folding panels to mobile phone manufacturers other than Samsung Electronics. Previously, SDC's folding panels were installed on Samsung Electronics products such as the Galaxy Fold, which was first launched in 2019, and last year's Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold2.
SDC began supplying samples to many manufacturers 2 to 3 years ago to explore customer needs. However, due to variables such as US sanctions, the supply to Huawei was abandoned and ultimately failed to supply.

However, as other Chinese mobile phone manufacturers began to speed up the commercialization of foldable phones, they confirmed the mass production plan with SDC. It is rumored that the manufacturers who will launch foldable phones using foldable panels supplied by SDC in the second half of the year are most likely to be China's OPPO and vivo.

SDC is the only company in the world that can mass-produce foldable phone panels. SDC's expanded supply also means that the foldable phone and foldable panel markets will usher in growth. It is also an opportunity for SDC to continue to lead in the next-generation panel market.

SDC is still the number one in the mobile phone OLED market. After becoming the world's first company to mass-produce OLED in 2007, its market share reached over 90%, making it the leader. However, with LG Display, BOE, CSOT and others joining the mobile phone OLED market, competition has become increasingly fierce.

Therefore, SDC plans to leave behind the latecomers and strengthen its high value-added business. SDC can seek new growth points through the expansion of the supply of folding panels. At the same time, SDC is also the only company in the world that has mass production and leading competitiveness in the field of UTG folding covers. It is estimated that SDC will supply more than 10 million folding panels to Samsung Electronics this year. In terms of folding mobile phone manufacturing capacity, Samsung Electronics alone purchases more than 10 times the total supply of panels from China.