Samsung, Huawei to drive mass adoption of foldable smartphones next year

The global foldable market is expected to experience substantial growth in 2024, driven by the introduction of entry-level products, thus heralding the era of the mass foldable phones led by Samsung and Huawei, a report showed on Friday.

In the second half of this year, competition in the global foldable product market is set to escalate significantly, driven by the entry of Chinese companies like OPPO and Honor, according to Counterpoint Research.

“Although Samsung's market share may dip due to increased competition, we believe that it will be a natural result. However, competition among manufacturers usually has the effect of increasing the size of the market for the product,” said senior analyst Jene Park.

“We believe that the era of the mass foldable phone is expected to start in 2024, mainly led by Samsung and Huawei with their entry-level foldables,” park added.

Entry-level foldables are expected to be priced around $600 to $700, making them more accessible to consumers.

Meanwhile, the global foldable smartphone market increased 10 per cent YoY in the second quarter this year to reach 2.1 million units.

This growth is in stark contrast to that of the global smartphone market, which showed a 9 per cent decline in shipments during the quarter to reach 268 million units, the report mentioned.

Due to the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing high global inflation, the smartphone market is expected to grow sideways.

“Nevertheless, the foldable smartphone sector continues to exhibit robust and sustained growth,” the report added.

In Q2, the Chinese foldable smartphone market achieved notable success, surging 64 per cent YoY to reach 1.2 million units.

China now commands the largest share of the global foldable smartphone market, with a 58.6 per cent share.

Chinese manufacturers are expanding their presence internationally during this period, with notable releases including the HONOR Magic V2, OPPO Find N3 Flip, and the yet-to-be-named OnePlus foldable device.

Notably, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, considered to be some of the top-tier foldable offerings, were launched in August and are expected to capture a substantial market share in H2 2023, the report mentioned.