Transformable Display Market Will Grow Up to 117.7 Million Units in 2029

With display technology improving for bending radius (BR) and transmittance (TR), shipments of transformable displays are expected to reach approximately 117.7 million units in 2029 with a 2.7% share of the total flat panel display market, according to Omdia. The foldable display is expected to be the highest developing form factor up to 2029, due to its rapid expansion through premium smartphone applications.

Foldable display shipments are expected to increase to 107.5 million units in 2029 with a 2.5% share of the total flat panel display market, and the CAGR will be 28.0% from 2022 to 2029. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display is expected to be the most spotlighted technology than any other transformable display. The OLED display is self-emissive and thin structured which can be flexible and transparent and allows the design of various transformable displays such as a foldable display.

“During the last two decades, most panel makers have demonstrated or launched various kinds of transformable displays. The OLED display has proven itself as multi-functional across the transformable display while other display technologies are quite limited in terms of bending radius and transmittance,“ said Jerry Kang, Omdia Research Manager. “LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) continues to dominate the transparent display market in terms of shipment area, due to its popularity in the showcase and cooler market where the light source can be easily embedded.“

Shipment of transformable displays has increased slowly with limited demand of special purpose applications in products such as foldable smartphones, rollable TVs, transparent coolers, etc. rather than typical consumer applications such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc. While this area is not expected to grow aggressively in the short term, innovative form factors can and have expanded the usage of the display as we have seen in the case of flexible display which has quickly penetrated the smartphone display market.