SDC increased the durability of its foldable OLED panels, which now last over 500,000 folding cycles, using a new panel design

Samsung Display announced that its latest foldable OLED panels have been tested to last for over 500,000 folding cycles, this enough for over 10 years for average use, and over 6 years for 'heavy' users that fold their devices more than 200 times a day. This is the panel that is used in the Galaxy Z Fold7 smartphone.

 SDC says that its new foldable OLED panels were tested and verified by the global testing, inspection, and certification company Bureau Veritas. SDC raised its internal durability testing standard from 200,000 to 500,000 folds. 

SDC further says that in order to increase the durability of its panels, it has developed and applied an innovative panel structure that absorbs and disperses external impact to enhance shock resistance. The new design was inspired by the design principles of bulletproof glass.

The company explains that traditional bulletproof glass consists of multiple layers of strengthened glass and plastic films engineered to absorb and disperse energy on impact. When a bullet strikes the surface, the elasticity of the outer glass layer takes in much of the impact energy, preventing penetration. Samsung Display applied this concept by increasing the thickness of its outermost Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) by 50% and introducing a new high-elastic adhesive applied to each layer inside its OLED panel, offering over four times the recovery performance compared to the previous material. These enhancements significantly improve the panel’s ability to absorb external impact.