LONDON, 16 August, 2022 – With display technology improving for bending radius (BR) and transmittance (TR), shipments of transformable displays are expected to reach approximately 117.7 million units in 2029 with a 2.7% share of total flat panel display market according to the latest research from Omdia. 

Omdia defines transformable display in terms of bending radius and transmittance, and categorizes as bendable, foldable, rollable, stretchable, and transparent displays. Foldable display is expected to be the highest developing form factor up to 2029, due to its rapid expansion through premium smartphone applications. Foldable display shipments are expected to increase to 107.5 million units in 2029 with a 2.5% share of total flat panel display market, and the CAGR will be 28.0% from 2022 to 2029.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display is expected to be the most spotlighted technology than any other transformable display. OLED display is self-emissive and thin structured which can be flexible and transparent and allows the design of various transformable display such as foldable display.

“During last two decades, most panel makers have demonstrated or launched various kinds of transformable display. OLED display has proven itself as multi-functional across transformable display while other display technologies are quite limited in terms of bending radius and transmittance,” said Jerry Kang, Omdia Research Manager. “LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) continues to dominate the transparent display market in terms of shipment area, due to its popularity in the showcase and cooler market where the light source can be easily embedded.”

Shipment of transformable displays have increased slowly with limited demand of special purpose application in products such as foldable smartphones, rollable TVs, transparent coolers, etc. rather than typical consumer applications such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets etc. While this area is not expected to grow aggressively in the short term, innovative form factors can and have expanded the usage of display as we have seen in the case of flexible display which has quickly penetrated the smartphone display market.