TrendForce: Samsung Shocks Industry with Flexible AMOLED, to Threaten Market within Two Years

According to WitsView, a panel research division of TrendForce, Samsung Mobile Display’s official announcement of its flexible AMOLED display named “Youm” demonstrates its breakthrough from traditional techniques for power consumption, contrast ratio, view angle, color saturation that are no longer the criteria for judging Samsung and its rivals’ competitiveness.

With the help of Samsung Galaxy brand, AMOLED has successfully secured its leading position in mid-to-high-level mobile phone display market for the past two years. However, according to Eric Chiou, TrendForce research director, the lukewarm reception towards newly introduced Samsung 7.7” tablet with AMOLED explains that AMOLED display’s higher cost is less competitive in the price-oriented tablet market. Meanwhile, the upgraded LCD panel specifications have narrowed its gap with AMOLED display; the trend comes as warning sign for AMOLED display as it becomes more difficult to differentiate between the two. Therefore, flexible AMOLED panel is expected to be the key offering more unique technologies for Samsung to hit a new peak.

Both backplane and encapsulation critical in creating a “flexible” AMOLED, and the usage of bended backplane is the foundation of flexible AMOLED panel development. With flexible AMOLED as the final target, while AMOLED with bended backplane would be a critical milestone for flexible AMOLED to be popularized in the market within the next two years.

Eric Chiou indicates that touch module or LCD panels’ glass layers crack easily when dropped, resulting in high repair costs and inherent danger with broken glass; furthermore, it may impact a brand’s reputation should it involve human safety issues. Replacing traditional glass substrate  with bended backplane enables a thinner and lighter AMOLED panel, avoiding broken panel problems completely. The mass production bottleneck for unbreakable AMOLED display is more achievable when compared with its flexible counterpart, and It is expected to take advantage of its safety to win smart phone and tablet PC markets. 

TrendForce analysis indicates that Samsung Mobile Display, nearly dominating the whole AMOLED market, continues to make use of it advanced technology to release flexible AMOLED. In the near future, this product will inevitably join forces with the Samsung brand, the consumer electronic leader. This may not only impact the industry with its exclusive technology, but also further destroy the balanced supply chains, causing brands’ market share to face abrupt changes.