
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Guide-style foldables have by no means outsold their clamshell counterparts by various p.c, with 52% of consumers selecting bigger fashions in 2025.
- In 2026, book-style foldables are anticipated to tug away, claiming 65% of the market in Counterpoint Analysis’s newest projection.
- Company objectives, reminiscence shortages, and Apple’s anticipated entry into the market might drive book-style foldable progress this yr.
Large-screen foldable telephones are set to have an enormous yr, with market analysis agency Counterpoint Analysis anticipating the shape issue to account for almost all of folding cellphone shipments in 2026. The projections come forward of Apple’s anticipated entry into the foldable market later this yr. Bigger foldables are usually known as book- or passport-style foldables, whereas smaller ones are sometimes known as clamshell foldables or just flip telephones. Traditionally, foldable cellphone customers have chosen between these two type elements in almost equal numbers, however Counterpoint Analysis thinks that can change.
The agency’s 2026 projections for the foldable market predict that book-style units will emerge because the industry-leading type issue, representing 65% of all folding telephones shipped. For context, book-style telephones represented simply 52% of 2025 foldable shipments. Counterpoint Analysis sees advantages to the shape issue on each the edges of the deal. Massive foldables promote at greater costs on common, making them interesting to firms. In addition they really feel extra premium and allow productiveness workflows not possible on conventional smartphones, satisfying prospects.
“As reminiscence provide tightness turns into more and more concentrated in parts used for low- to mid-range smartphones, considerations across the broader mass-market outlook are rising,” mentioned Tarun Pathak, analysis director at Counterpoint, within the press launch. “Towards this backdrop, OEMs are putting better emphasis on higher-value units, prioritizing profitability over quantity. Guide-type foldables are well-positioned on this shift, as their premium specs and better reminiscence configurations help ASP (common promoting worth) enlargement whereas aligning with value-led progress methods.”

Samsung led the worldwide foldable market in items shipped final yr, reclaiming the highest spot after Huawei briefly took the lead in 2024. The South Korean tech large led for the 4 straight years prior. Foldable cellphone shipments favored the smaller, clamshell type issue early on, with bigger folding telephones representing 35% and 39% of the market in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The book-style foldables grew to signify 47% of the market in 2022 and claimed roughly half of the sector within the years that adopted. Recognition slowly trended upward, with book-style foldables accounting for 47% of the market in 2023, 51% in 2024, and 52% in 2025.
The present market chief, Samsung, could also be consultant of the shifts anticipated to shake up the {industry} in 2026. Counterpoint Analysis notes that Samsung bought extra Galaxy Z Fold 7 items than Galaxy Z Flip 7 items within the second half of 2025. That would find yourself serving as a snapshot of the altering client habits within the foldable market at massive, primarily based on these projections.
Apple’s rumored foldable launch is unquestionably a consideration, because the report notes {that a} book-style foldable iPhone might “speed up broader market adoption” within the class. For now, these are solely projections, and we’ll should see how foldable cellphone fashions promote all year long for affirmation of this rising pattern.
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