Largely thanks to Samsung, smartphones have found flexible displays. The company already has its own line of foldable mobile devices, which is the largest of all manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, Samsung is the leader in the foldable device niche and is set to further expand its dominance in the flexible display market.
Samsung came to CES 2022 and brought three new flexible panels to Las Vegas, where the Flex Note is designed for laptops and the Flex S and G will find their way into smartphones. In the future, the company may present a 13-inch laptop, where, when unfolded, the display is transformed into a 17-inch solution. There can be several scenarios for using such a laptop. For example, the bottom of the screen can display a virtual keyboard or gameplay controls.
The Flex S panel will allow you to create smartphones with an S-shaped or Z-shaped design. The display bends in two places, splitting the screen into three sections. And one of them is on the outside, performing the function of an additional screen when the device is folded.
The Flex G display also folds in three, but so that the flexible panel hides inward, which can be a more practical solution. But in any case, such a device should weigh decently due to the presence of two hinges and a couple of batteries. We have no timing of the release of such devices. At this stage, this is only an experiment and a demo version of future folding devices. Samsung has yet to address the issue of reliability and durability, as well as create software for such gadgets.
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Foldable Smartphone Shipments to Grow 10x by 2023
According to Counterpoint Research’s latest Foldable Smartphone Shipment Forecast; the shipments for 2021 will remain in single digit, at around 9 million units. However, it will still be a 3x growth over 2020; with Samsung dominating with over 88% market share. By 2023, we expect a 10x growth in foldable smartphone shipments. Even with more OEMs entering the foldable smartphone space, we expect Samsung to continue dominating with nearly 75% market share. If Apple is on track to release its foldable smartphone by 2023, it will not only be an inflection point in taking foldables mainstream; but also improve the component yield and scale for the entire supply chain.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy foldables are highly anticipated smartphones as they are expected to bring major improvements over their predecessors. “With a significant price drop, improved design, and appearance; Samsung is likely to target younger customers with the new foldable Flip smartphone. The new Galaxy Z models will get S Pen support too; which can help absorb existing Note users,” said Senior Analyst Jene Park, who leads the foldables research at Counterpoint.
The premium smartphone market in China will be particularly interesting for Samsung. So, “Despite having a negligible market share, Samsung can secure Huawei’s vacant spot; and its success can contribute towards total shipment and sales volumes for its new foldables,” Park added.
