According to IHS, the OLED encapsulation material grew 4.7% in 2017 to reach $117 million. IHS expects the market to grow at a 16% CAGR to reach $233 by 2021.
The market growth rate will increase as new OLED fabs begin operation in China and Korea. IHS categorizes OLED encapsulation materials into metal, frit glass, TFE and hybrid. The metal type is mostly used for OLED TVs, in which IHS expects the fastest growth in terms of substrate size. Glass encapsulation will remain strong but will lose market share in the future.
Hybrid encapsulation (which combines TFE with a barrier film) is expensive and limited in flexibility - and IHS does not see this material type increasing its market share in any meaningful way, even though new OLED producers are using the technology as it has a lower technological entry barrier compared to TFE.
