Apple unveils first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo

Samsung Display's foldable OLED share seen hitting 85.1 percent in Q3

LG Display's smartphone OLED share also rises on iPhone 18 Pro effect

China's BOE share drops to low teens amid quality, yield woes

Apple's foldable phone, the iPhone Duo [AFP]
Apple's foldable phone, the iPhone Duo [AFP]

Apple unveiled its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, on Wednesday (local time). As display technology becomes the key battleground in smartphone competition, industry watchers expect Korean display makers — armed with high value-added OLED technology and stable mass production capabilities — to benefit further. Chinese rivals' foothold, meanwhile, is expected to narrow.

According to market researcher Omdia on Thursday, Samsung Display held 62.6 percent of the foldable OLED panel market by revenue in the second quarter, more than half the market. Its share is projected to climb to 85.1 percent in the third quarter, when foldable iPhone shipments begin in earnest, before easing to 76.7 percent in the fourth quarter, further reinforcing Samsung Display's dominance in the high-value foldable OLED market.

BOE of China, meanwhile, is seeing its share shrink sharply, from 29 percent in the second quarter of this year to 12.3 percent in the third quarter and 12 percent in the fourth quarter. Industry observers attribute the decline to the barriers posed by experience in mass-producing foldable OLED panels and the ability to secure yield rates and durability. Samsung Display reportedly secured high yields and stable mass production during Apple's approval process for foldable OLED panels, allowing it to supply, in effect, all of the initial shipment volume.

Apple's entry is also expanding the foldable OLED market itself, which is good news for Samsung Display. According to Omdia, the foldable OLED market is projected to grow 62.6 percent this year, from $2.99 billion last year to $4.86 billion this year. Samsung Display's annual foldable OLED sales are expected to jump about 173 percent over the same period, from $1.28 billion to $3.49 billion.

Seven years after Samsung Electronics unveiled its first foldable smartphone in 2019, Apple's entry into the market is expected to accelerate the foldable OLED market's overall growth. Omdia forecasts that foldable products' share of the overall OLED market will expand from 7.5 percent this year to 11 percent by 2031. Related revenue is projected to rise from $3.64 billion to $6.74 billion by 2031.

The launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max is also good news for Korean display makers. Industry sources said Samsung Display and LG Display are supplying all of the OLED panels used in the two devices. As a result, LG Display's share of the overall smartphone OLED market by revenue is projected to rise from 17.9 percent last year to 20.6 percent this year.

In particular, as the OLED specifications used in iPhones grow more advanced, Chinese manufacturers' foothold is shrinking rather than expanding. According to Omdia, OLED supply for Apple's iPhones in the first quarter of this year was split between Samsung Display at 59 percent, LG Display at 27 percent and BOE at 14 percent. BOE's share has been steadily declining, from 20 percent in 2024 to about 15 percent in 2025 and 14 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Quality issues are cited as the biggest cause. BOE has reportedly continued to struggle with quality problems in producing LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) panels, a particularly high technological barrier within OLED technology. LTPO is an advanced OLED driving technology that reduces power consumption by variably adjusting the screen's refresh rate depending on usage conditions.

As OLED adoption expands beyond smartphones into tablets, laptops and other devices, led by Apple, analysts say Korean display makers, backed by their technological edge and stable mass production, are positioned to further strengthen their grip on the high-end market.

"Apple is trying to adopt OLED across nearly its entire product lineup, and while Apple has been preparing this transition, rival brands have already been applying OLED to many of their high-end products and selling them," said Park Jin-han, a director at Omdia.

"By leveraging superior technology, Korean companies have maintained their lead over Chinese rivals, who are catching up quickly through aggressive investment — showing that they have been able to continuously solidify their share of the high-end market," he added.


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