Foldable OLEDs: introduction and market status - Page 2

Samsung Display is demonstrating a new foldable AMOLED display, saying that this is its first crease-less foldable OLED.

It is reported, that unlike current foldable OLED displays, this panel has indeed no visible folds. It seems as if this new technology is based on a standard foldable OLED panel, paired with a laser-drilled metal display plate. This helps the stress to be dispersed more evenly when folding the screen, which eliminates the crease. 

Reportedly, this technology will be utilized by Samsung in their 2026 foldable smartphone - and also by Apple in their 2026 foldable iPhone.

According to reports from Korea, Apple has placed an order for 11 million foldable AMOLED displays from Samsung Display, to be supplied next year towards Apple's first foldable smartphone. In addition, Samsung will supply 11 million additional AMOLEDs, to be used as the external displays in the foldable iPhone.

It was initially expected that Apple will produce around 6-8 million foldable iPhones in 2025, but Apple is more confident regarding the demand for its first foldable device. This is excellent news for Samsung of course, and also for the OLED industry in general.

UBI Research says that sales of foldable OLED panels has been week since the beginning of 2025, as demand for foldable smartphones has been low this year. UBI expects 21.3 million foldable OLED panels to ship in 2025 in total, 14.4% lower than the shipments in 2024.

UBI explains that in its 5th year, the foldable smartphone market has matured, but even though leading brands including Samsung and Huawei continue to release new devices, demand has been slow. The main obstacle is the high price of foldable screens.

Omdia estimates that OLED makers will increase their adoption of polarizer-free OLED technology (sometimes referred to as Pol-Less OLEDs, and also as Color Filter on Encapsulation or COE, we will discuss this below), and the market share of the panels will grow dramatically in the future. 

According to Omdia, currently only about 0.1% of smartphone AMOLED panels utilize a polarizer-free architecture, but this will grow to 20.3% by 2032. In tablets, the market share is currently 0%, and it will grow tot 20.3%.

Bloomberg posted an article in which it details Apple's IT OLED adoption roadmap, saying that the company plans to introduce OLED iPad Mini devices in 2026, an OLED iPad Air in 2027 or 2028, and OLED MacBook Air laptops in 2028. 

Apple has a long-term goal of utilizing higher performance OLED displays across all of its devices - today it is using OLEDs in all of its smartphones, VR, and wearables and it has also introduced OLEDs into its high-end iPad Pro tablets. Next year, we expect the company to introduce its first OLED laptop and also its first foldable OLED smartphone.

Samsung has been developing a tri-folding OLED smartphone for many years, and it appears as if the company is getting ready to release its first such device soon.

At the K-Tech Showcase in Gyeongju, as part of the APEC CEO Summit, Samsung Electronics demonstrated its first tri-folding device. The phone on display was not powered on, but officials at the booth said that it is a real device. It is currently named Samsung Galaxy Tri-Fold, although the name may change when the device is actually launched. 

US-based AI-driven material designer Ares Materials announced that it has closed the first trench in its Series B funding round, raising $12 million in equity and convertible notes. The round was led by Black Diamond Ventures, with Moneta Ventures joining as a major participant, alongside L’Attitude Ventures, 1200VC, Hunt Holdings, and others.

Ares Materials developed an integrated AI material selection platform to enable the discovery of new molecules that achieve optimal material performance. The company says that the newly raised funds will support the scaling of the company's +Pylux MCW (Monolithic Cover Window) for foldable displays, the commercialization of solvent-free, PFAS-free adhesives and films, and the expansion of AI and experimental infrastructure to address new applications with strategic partners.

Samsung Display is progressing as planned with its  8.6-Gen AMOLED production line, and the company's president Lee Cheong, now says that the company expects to start mass producing panels by Q3 2026, or even a few weeks before that.

 Lee Cheong also noted that the company is also moving forward with the final development of foldable OLED displays, to be supplied to a North American client, pretty much confirming that Samsung will supply these displays to Apple for its first foldable smartphone due out in 2026. It is understood that these flexible displays will not be produced at the 8.6-Gen IT line (which will produce rigid glass based OLEDs, at least in the first phase).

Both Samsung and Huawei launched a range of new AMOLED devices today. We'll start with the Huawei's Mate XTs Ultimate which is a tri-folding smartphone (the company's and the world's second) that offers a 10.2" 90Hz 2232x3184 COE LTPO AMOLED display (produced by BOE). 

Huawei also announced the MatePad Mini, a small tablet that offers a 8.8" 120Hz 1,800 nits (peak) 1600x2560 AMOLED display.

UBI published some interesting data on Apple's smartphone OLED panels. The main supplier to Apple is Samsung Display, that shipped 124 million panels in 2024 to Apple, out of which 64 million were used in the iPhone 16 series. In 2025, Samsung will ship 125 million OLEDs to Apple (so only a slight increase), out of which 78 million will be used in the iPhone 17 series.

LG Display, Apple's second supplier, shipped 67.5 million panels to Apple in 2024, with 42 million being used in the iPhone 16 series. Next year LG Display will increase its shipments to 75.1 million units, with 45.6 million used in the iPhone 17 series. Apple's third supplier, BOE, shipped 43 million panels in 2024 to Apple (with only 6.6 million units for the iPhone 16), and this will grow to 45 to 50 million units in 2025.