Omdia: Ultra-thin flexible glass shipments are growing rapidly, with a projected year-on-year increase of 36.7% to reach 33.7 million pieces by 2025

According to the Zhītōng Finance app, on June 21st, Omdia stated that most smartphone brands prefer to use ultra-thin flexible glass (UTG) with higher flatness as the material for foldable cover plates. Currently, various UTG solutions are emerging, with most Chinese brands choosing to use the thinning method. Omdia predicts that by 2024, UTG shipments will increase to 24.6 million pieces, a year-on-year growth of 36.9%, and by 2025, it will rise to 33.7 million pieces, a year-on-year growth of 36.7%. In the coming years, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of UTG shipments will maintain a strong growth momentum.

Most smartphone brands prefer to use UTG with higher flatness as the material for foldable cover plates

Foldable cover glass must meet all of the following criteria: transparent, foldable, sturdy, flat, and thin, with each of these basic elements being indispensable. Among them, hardness and thickness are a contradictory pair, making it difficult to achieve both sturdiness and thinness. So far, the industry has not found a perfect foldable cover plate material. Colorless polyimide (CPI) and UTG are two available solutions for foldable cover glass, but both still have flaws.

In contrast, most smartphone brands prefer to use UTG with higher flatness. Currently, apart from Huawei and Honor still using CPI, other brands (including Samsung, Google, OPPO, vivo, Moto, and Transsion, etc.) all use UTG as the material for foldable cover plates. Omdia's research found that Huawei and Honor are also actively developing UTG solutions and are expected to use this material on their next-generation foldable phones.

Currently, various UTG solutions are emerging, with most Chinese brands choosing to use the thinning method

Currently, various UTG solutions are emerging, mainly divided into the following three types.

The first type is led by Samsung Display (SDC) in the supply chain. Schott is responsible for supplying the mother glass; Dowooinsys, controlled by SDC, is responsible for the precision processing of cover glass; then, SDC is responsible for the bonding process of UTG with the foldable display panel.

The second type is similar to the first type but led by SEC in the supply chain. Corning is responsible for supplying UTG mother glass, but to differentiate it from Schott UTG, Corning names it Corning Bendable Glass (CBG). SEC chooses eCONY to handle the precision processing of cover glass. The bonding process is still handled by SDC. The Galaxy Z Flip3, Flip4, and Flip5, three models of foldable phones, all adopt this solution The third solution is thinning method: Some cover glass processing manufacturers thin the thicker glass from 100µm to 30µm (or 40-50µm) according to customer requirements when processing UTG. This solution has been used in foldable phones such as Moto Razr 2022, Moto Razr 40 series, vivo X Flip, OPPO Find N3 series, and Transsion Tecno Phantom V series. Brands using this solution can freely choose the supplier of the mother glass, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the supply chain. However, the downside is that the precision processing process becomes more complex due to the additional thinning process. In addition, glass manufacturers in mainland China are actively researching and developing 30µm ultra-thin mother glass, which is expected to be put into mass production by the end of 2024