Foldable smartphone shipments to hit 16 million units in 2022

According to Counterpoint Research’s latest Foldable Smartphone Forecast, the global foldable smartphone market will grow 73% this year from 9m units last year to 16m units. The strong growth defies current economic headwinds as the premium market shows resilience and steady demand. Counterpoint forecasts strong growth through next year too, with foldables expected to grow to 26m units in 2023.

During H1 2022, Samsung enjoyed dominant market share of foldables, accounting for 62% of the market according to Counterpoint’s Foldable Smartphone Tracker, June 2022; Huawei and OPPO came in a distant second and third.

Commenting on Samsung’s performance, Senior Analyst Jene Park said “Samsung has led the market since the beginning, and we think its dominance will continue for some time. Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and vivo are all introducing new foldables but they are mostly limited to the Chinese market. Motorola may be the only contender in markets like the USA for now.”

“We expect the new Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 combo to continue Samsung’s momentum in the space and sell close to 9m units this year, helping the company’s H2 2022 foldables share to jump to 80%.”

On the significance of the foldables segment across the broader market, Mr. Park adds, “Foldables not only bring fresh design to smartphones – traditionally ruled by bar-type form factors – but also more screen real estate. This is growing in importance with smartphone use cases expanding, especially across media, entertainment and work.”

Framing the growth in foldables, we see the premium market showing strong growth despite macro headwinds, with ultra-premium leading the segment.

CT Bureau