Given the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3‘s roaring success, it is not very surprising that OEMs want to get onboard the foldable hype train. Chinese behemoths such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have already dipped their toes in the lucrative market; others like Vivo and Realme are expected to follow suit soon. All of the competition is a bad thing for Samsung, right? Not quite, because Samsung Display still has complete control over the foldable market, and it is all set to ramp up production in the coming months.
A report from The Elec tells us that Samsung Display wants to ramp up foldable production at its Vietnam factory. Currently, the seven available lines can output up to 1.5 million units per month. Samsung wants to add three more lines and up that number to 2 million units. However, the endeavor is in its early stages. Samsung Display is still in the process of acquiring equipment and large-scale production is expected to commence by late-2022.
In the not too distant future, Samsung hopes to ship 18 million foldable displays annually. 13 million of those are earmarked for Samsung's in-house use, as it is quite optimistic about Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 sales. Besides, it also needs to set aside many displays for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 slated for launch next year.
Demand for Samsung's OLED panels has shot up, too, prompting it to ramp up production. While foldables still cater to a very small niche, it is only a matter of time before they become mainstream, especially once the likes of Apple embrace it. Samsung Display will have to churn out a lot more than 18 million panels in that case and it'll be interesting to see how Samsung deals with the increased demand.
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