Abstract: with the gradual increase of technical reserves and supply chain layout of Chinese external cover sector manufacturers, the market scale of UTG cover sector will continue to increase. It is estimated that the carrying capacity of UTG on the front cover of folding mobile phones in China will be about 1.1 million in 2022, will continue to grow to nearly 5 million in 2025, and the CAGR from 2022 to 2025 will be about 65%.
From the long river of history, every industry and every type of product has always experienced an interesting cycle. In the era of functional phones, mobile phones emphasized personalization, and products of different forms were the competitive state at that time. Later, in the era of smart phones, chip, screen, camera and other configurations gradually became the factors of purchase. Over and over again, the mobile phone market has also experienced a cycle in the past one or two years.
At present, when the general chip configuration and imaging capability tend to be similar and similar to the experience, the change of appearance and form has re entered the public’s vision, becoming an important element of market competition, and even a link defining the low, medium and high-end mobile phone market.
Young people need to be personalized, and high-end people also need to be outstanding. Based on the cognition of “harmony but difference”, folding screen mobile phones have become an indispensable weapon for mobile phone brands to enter the high-end market. At present, in this market segment, Huawei, Samsung, Xiaomi and other mobile phone brands are investing heavily in the layout and seeking more perfect technical solutions to solve the pain points of folding screen mobile phones in mass production and use experience, such as screen creases and durability.
According to cinnorresearch, in addition to apple, mainstream smartphone brands will gather in the folding screen mobile phone camp in 2022, and the folding screen mobile phone market will become another important track of flexible AMOLED in 2022. In addition, the folding screen mobile phone models will continue to be enriched and the price will continue to decline. Its market scale is bound to grow rapidly, which will drive the increase in the demand for its special front cover materials.
In 2021, the consumption of CPI and UTG of folding mobile phones increased significantly
At present, the front cover materials of folding screen mobile phones mainly include CPI and UTG, which is also the key to solve the problem of screen crease. Colorless polyimide (CPI) is the first choice for the foldable cover in 2019, but from 2020, all brands began to pay more attention to ultra-thin glass (UTG). Samsung Galaxy zflip is the first folding screen product equipped with UTG.
According to cinnorresearch, in 2021, the total carrying capacity of the front cover of China’s top 5 brand folding mobile phones was about 1158000, a year-on-year increase of 124%. When Zhonghua is currently selling folding mobile phones with only CPI front cover, it ranks first; The total carrying capacity of Samsung folding mobile phone front cover ranks second, with UTG front cover as the main force; Xiaomi folding mobile phone ranks third with the mixfold model equipped with UTG front cover.
