Because OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays need no backlight (LED, Cathode), it is going to be possible in the near future to produce very thin and highly flexible OLED Displays.
Completely new categories of products are going to become available in the next few years.
Please look at our detailed schematic graphic of a flexible OLED Panel.
The substrate of a flexible panel can be:
- Plastic
- Metal foil
- flexible glass
Schematic of a flexible OLED Display
All these substrate types are very thin and so it is possible to make the display flexible or bendable.
These are the development and market entry stages:
- very thin > 0.25mm, light, unbreakable
- Bendable, ready for production (Galaxy Round, LG-Flex)
- Rollable, completely flexible –> ready 2016
- Printable, displays like a paper –> ready 2018-2020
Now that the first products are on the market we think that the manufacturer of flexible OLEDs has maintained its development goals: Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Round, and LG-Electronics introduced the LG-Flex as well as a smartphone with a bended display. But this is only the start of a market revolution. To get a good idea of the kind of products we can expect from these technological developments, please watch our exclusive video from Samsung Display.
UBI Research thinks that the market for flexible/bendable OLED Displays will be 700 million dollars in 2014, but 15 billion dollars by 2018!! IHS Display Bank, the global flexible display industry, will also see dramatic growth and become a USD 1.5 billion market by 2016 and exceed USD 10 billion by 2019!
