In short: The third quarter of 2023 marked a historic interval for foldable smartphones, with Samsung main the best way. The celebration may very well be quick lived, nevertheless, because the handset maker is predicted to lose important market share in This fall.
In keeping with a brand new report from Show Provide Chain Consultants (DSCC), foldable smartphone shipments elevated 16 p.c yr over yr and 215 p.c quarter over quarter in Q3, totaling seven million items. The determine beat expectations and topped the earlier excessive of 6.1 million items shipped in Q3 of 2022.
DSCC mentioned Samsung accounted for 72 p.c of the foldable smartphone market in Q3. That’s down from 86 p.c a yr in the past however nonetheless leaps and bounds forward of the competitors. Huawei completed in second place with only a 9 p.c share adopted by Honor with eight p.c. For the complete yr, foldable smartphone shipments are anticipated to achieve 15.8 million items – a rise of 23 p.c in comparison with 2022.
Samsung owes a lot of its success to its two best-selling foldable fashions, the Galaxy S Flip 5 and the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which captured 45 p.c and 24 p.c market share in Q3, respectively.
The hole between first place and everybody else is predicted to slim considerably in This fall, nevertheless. In keeping with DSCC, Samsung’s model share may fall to round 40 p.c with Huawei and Honor climbing nearer to the 20 p.c mark.
DSCC CEO Ross Younger mentioned 2023 has been a blended yr for foldables. The sector benefited from Huawei regaining its footing, new entrants like Google and OnePlus, and general enhancements to system thickness and weight, however the general sluggishness of the high-end Android market has been a hindrance.
Have you ever had a possibility to expertise a foldable but? I had some hands-on time with a Motorola Razr not too long ago and whereas I used to be impressed with the picture high quality of the show, its plastic nature and visual crease was a little bit of a flip off.
Picture credit score: Imad Clicks
