RFM 2013 Top 5 – Part 2 – Samsung bendable displays

Samsung consolidates its handset gains with bendable and foldable displays.

• In a commoditising market where Samsung has no ecosystem with which to differentiate, this is its ace in the hole.
• Bendable displays are made possible using RGB OLED on a plastic backed substrate.
• Plastic-backed screens also have the advantage of making the display much thinner and lighter.
• This can be used for thinner form factors or to make extra space for other components such as a larger battery.
• On top of this, plastic also opens the way for curved displays leading to fully flexible and foldable displays in time.
• Bendable displays opens up portable devices to whole new range of form factors and use cases.
• At the moment Samsung is the only display maker that is close to getting these displays to market as the encapsulation process has proved to be far more difficult than anticipated.
• Furthermore, Samsung looks set to keep these displays exclusively for in-house devices for the time being.
• I expect that CES and / or MWC this year will see the launch of a tablet or large screen device with a screen that is bent around the edges of the device.
• While this may be totally useless in terms of device utility, I suspect it will be seen as pretty cool and critically no-one else will have one.
• As Apple has found to its great benefit, cool things sell like hot cakes and I am looking for Samsung to be the belle of the ball in H1 2013.
• Hence, Samsung can be differentiated in 2013, without having to develop an ecosystem of its own.
• Differentiation means pricing power and stable to rising margins despite the agonies being felt by its Android competitors.
• This, I believe will allow Samsung to consolidate its position in the mobile market while holding onto its margins this year.
• Samsung remains one of my top choices for the technology sector in 2013.