In the current, unprecedented phase of active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) panel factory build-out, flexible AMOLED capacity will expand from 1.5 million square meters to 20.1 million square meters between 2016 and 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 91 percent. In 2016, flexible capacity, or factories with the ability to produce AMOLEDs on plastic substrates, only accounted for 28 percent of total capacity targeting mobile applications. This will increase to 80 percent by 2020 as almost every new Gen 6 fab and smaller factory built over the next four years will be flexible compatible,

To absorb all the new capacity in the pipeline, flexible AMOLED panels will need to expand the market beyond smartphones to tablet PCs, notebooks and new form factors enabled by foldable displays. Ultimately, the rapid growth of flexible AMOLED capacity and the resulting increase in panel production will help to lower costs, increase yields and improve quality. In the long-run, this will spur further adoption into more applications; however, to get there, the industry may first need to cycle through a difficult period of digesting the 46 new flexible fabs now being built.