According to CINNO Research industry statistics, the sales volume of folding screen smartphones in the Chinese market reached 6.8 million units in 2023, an increase of 140% year on year; it is estimated that in 2024, sales of folding screen smartphones in the Chinese market will reach 9.6 million units, an increase of 41% year on year. At the same time, the area of use of UTG folding screen smartphones in China increased sharply by 250.7% year on year in 2023, and it is expected that it will continue to increase by more than 70% year on year in 2024.

The screen cover is the key core of a foldable screen, and flexible materials are the key. Folding screen mobile phone screen covers need to be foldable while ensuring light transmittance and durability. CPI (transparent polyimide) and UTG (ultra-thin flexible glass) are currently the best choices for screen cover materials. CPI became a “transition plan” due to its shortcomings such as low hardness, creases, and low light transmission, and the technical route began to shift to UTG. Huatai Securities said that the UTG industry chain mainly includes UTG original film production, UTG thinning processing, and related equipment manufacturers. Affected by the high technical barriers in the industry and the late start of development, domestic UTG companies are mainly concentrated in the field of UTG thinning processing. Among domestic manufacturers, there are already companies that have achieved patented technology research and development for one-time molding of UTG original films, and related production line construction is currently underway, and domestic UTG manufacturers are expected to break through at an accelerated pace.

According to the Finance Federation's theme library, among the relevant listed companies:

Huagong Technology's femtosecond laser equipment is widely used in consumer electronics, aerospace, and processing of hard and brittle materials. Among them, UTG ultra-thin glass laser cutting intelligent equipment equipped with femtosecond ultrafast lasers has made major breakthroughs in the field of folding screen mobile phone display covers and has been mass-applied in the industry market.

Kaisheng Technology lays out the UTG project based on flexibility showing good development prospects and its own technical level. Currently, UTG is connecting with multiple customers. The second phase of the project has already built some production capacity, and the first molding project is being built according to plan.