DSCC: Folding screen panel sales in Q3 2024 will drop 38% year-on-year and will continue to decline in the next five quarters

According to recent news, DSCC released a report that foldable screen panels saw a year-on-year decline for the first time in Q3 2024, which means that the growth of the foldable screen mobile phone market has stagnated and faces huge challenges in the future.

The DSCC report pointed out that from 2019 to 2023, shipments of foldable screen panels will increase by at least 40% each year, but are expected to grow by only 4% in 2024 and fall by 4% in 2025, with shipments stabilizing at around 22 million units.

The report also mentioned that shipments of foldable screen panels in Q3 2024 fell 38% year-on-year, and it is expected that four of the next five quarters will see a year-on-year decline.

As of now, Samsung and Huawei are still the two giants in foldable screen mobile phones. Among them, the shipments of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 are lower than expected. It is estimated that the shipments of Galaxy Z Flip6 in 2024 will be more than 10% lower than that of Galaxy Z Flip5 in 2023.

It is expected that the shipment volume of Galaxy Z Fold6 in 2024 will increase compared with last year's Galaxy Z Fold5, but the increase will only be in single digits . The procurement amount of Samsung's foldable screen panels is expected to drop by more than 20% , reaching the lowest level since 2021.

In addition, due to high prices and limited profit margins, some smartphone brands are stopping the development of small folding screens, while other smartphone brands are choosing to exit the folding screen market due to insufficient market demand.

It is worth noting that the foldable screen market may still turn around in the future. Apple is expected to enter the foldable screen market in 2026. Given Apple's leading position in the field of straight-screen mobile phones, the foldable screen iPhone may bring new growth points to the market.

As a result, 2026 is expected to be a record year for foldable devices, with growth of more than 30%, and 2027 and 2028 are also expected to grow by more than 20%. In the PC field, DSCC expects at least one brand to launch a tri-fold laptop in 2026.

Zikuai Technology