Samsung dominated a record breaking third quarter for the foldable smartphone market،
With an estimated penetration rate of 1.6% for this year (according to TrendForce), foldable smartphones still have a long way to go to reach the 85-90% rate that the smartphone industry in general has. The foldable products market is coming off a record performance in the third quarter, where shipments soared 215% from the second quarter and 16% year-over-year to reach 7 million units. Led by the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5,
Samsung dominated the market during the quarter as usual.
Samsung had 72% of the global foldable market last quarter
According to
Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), Samsung had a 72% market share during the third quarter, which is certainly dominant, but down from the 86% share of the global foldable pie that Samsung held during the same quarter last year . Competitors have launched more models and produced higher volumes. To show you how much Sammy still dominates the sector, the second largest market share was the 9% attributed to Huawei. The latter's former subunit, Honor, finished 3rd with 8% of the foldable market in the 3rd quarter.
Samsung is, by far, the world's leading manufacturer of foldable smartphones
As expected, the two best-selling foldable phones in Q3 were the Galaxy Z Flip 5 And Galaxy Z fold 5 responsible for 45% and 24% of foldable shipments in the third quarter, respectively. It might surprise some of you that the Galaxy Z Flip has been the best-selling foldable, beating out its stablemate, the Galaxy Z Fold, for a few years now. Huawei's Mate
DSCC expects deliveries in the holiday quarter to increase 47% year-over-year to 3.6 million. But compared to the record third quarter, on a sequential basis, foldable shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to decline by 35%. DSCC forecasts a decline in Samsung's foldable shipments over the three months and expects its market share to decline to 42% during the period. Last year, Samsung had 83% of the foldable device market during the holiday quarter, but DSCC expects Q4 shipments to decline for the quarter. Galaxy Z Flip 5 And Galaxy Z fold 5.
DSCC sees Huawei take an impressive 21% share of the foldable market in Q4, with Honor at 19%. While the Galaxy Z Flip 5 Still expected to lead the way with a 22% market share, Huawei's Mate X5, with a 15% share of the foldable pie, will be second and the Honor Magic V3 will move to number three. With 12% of the global foldable market in the fourth quarter, DSCC expects the Galaxy Z fold 5 to finish fourth in the final quarter of the year.
DSCC CEO Ross Young summed up the foldable device market for 2023 by writing: “2023 was a mixed year for foldable devices. It benefited from Huawei regaining its footing and gaining significant share, several new entrants such as Google, OnePlus, and Tecno, as well as impressive improvements in thickness, weight, and reduced visibility of devices. seams.
Apple's entry into the foldable market may be necessary to take the segment to the next level
Young added: “We have also seen Chinese panel suppliers increase their volumes, take share from Samsung Display and introduce a number of innovations previously only available from Samsung Display, such as LTPO, POL-LESS and UTG. However, 2023 foldable phone Volumes ended up being 15% lower than our forecast for Q1 2023 as the premium Android smartphone market remains sluggish. »
Foldable smartphone shipments hit record high in third quarter
Some analysts believe that the foldable device market will remain a small segment of the smartphone industry until Apple steps up its efforts and delivers a foldable
iPhone. To show you how difficult it is to make predictions about an Apple foldable, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, considered one of the most reliable Apple industry analysts, said in 2021 that Apple would ship 15 to 20 million foldable iPhones. units in 2023. This number will be reduced by 15 to 20 million since there is no foldable iPhone available.
