A whopping 334% growth forecasted for flexible OLED market

Date: 25/09/2013
Organic light emitting diode -based display panels called OLED display panels are made using organic semiconductor material to emit three basic colours of light.
The most significant advantage of using organic semiconductor material such as OLED is, a flexible and even foldable display panel can be made. There are also other advantages such as lightweight, improved contrast, wider viewing angle, no backlight required, and also displays panels can be thinner compared to liquid crystal display panels. The initial cost of manufacturing now is high and is also complex, but over few years the cost of manufacturing is going to come down and resulting in faster growth of OLED display panels. Market researcher IHS has forecasted a whopping growth of 334% in year 2014 compared to year 2013. IHS reports global market revenue for flexible OLEDs will rise to $94.8 million in 2014, up from $21.9 million in 2013.

Here below further details of analysis and forecast shared by IHS in its recent release:
OLEDs represent a major segment of the larger flexible display market, which in the coming years will also include liquid-crystal display (LCD) and electronic paper (e-paper) technology.

The buzz about flexible displays has been growing louder, ever since Samsung Display demonstrated its Youm line of bendable OLED products at the Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of this year in January. Samsung is expected to begin shipping its first flexible OLED display—a 5-inch screen—in the second half of 2013.

Samsung’s initial product is likely to be a first-generation flexible display, employing a non-glass substrate that yields superior thinness and unbreakable ruggedness. However, such displays are flat and cannot be bent or rolled. Flexible displays are expected to eventually evolve into rollable and foldable OLED screens that are likely to be introduced after 2016.

Even so, it is too early for flexible OLED panels to fully replace conventional OLED screens. This is because the plastic substrate, thin-film encapsulation and other related technologies for flexible OLED remain immature for immediate application. Moreover, manufacturing processes are still being tested.

Just the same, a wide range of complementary technologies is under development to accelerate the advancement of flexible displays. To this end, the success of the flexible OLED market will ultimately be determined by the maturity of the materials and manufacturing processes that will enable large-volume production at reasonable costs, IHS believes.