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Foldable Smartphone Market to See its First Decline in 2025 Before Robust Comeback in 2026
www.counterpointresearch.com2024 saw the global foldable market growing at a comparatively flat annual rate of 2.9%.Samsung and OPPO’s unusually weak Q4 negatively impacted broader market dynamics.Huawei was a bright spot, as were Motorola, HONOR and Xiaomi.We are forecasting further tightness with single-digit negative growth for 2025.Order books are signaling a massive 2026 turnaround on Apple's entry and clamshell resurgence.Seoul, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego, Taipei, Tokyo – March 28, 2025Global foldable smartphone shipments in 2024 saw tepid growth at 2.9% YoY, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Foldable Smartphone Market Forecast. Although many OEMs saw double- and triple-digit growth, the market’s overall growth was impacted by Samsung’s tough Q4 due to political instability, and OPPO cutting production of its more affordable clamshell foldables.Global Foldable Smartphone Shipment ForecastSource: Counterpoint Research Global Foldable Smartphone ForecastThis year is expected to be even tougher, with Counterpoint forecasting single-digit negative growth for the market in 2025. “I don’t see many positives this year and we are actually expecting negative growth for the segment, which will be a first,” observed Senior Analyst Jene Park. “But it is definitely not a sign of the market peaking; rather it is a sign of regrouping before 2026, which is expected to be exciting and rejuvenating for the segment with the entry of Apple and a slew of clamshells.”Counterpoint Research’s latest Foldable and Rollable Display Shipment and Technology Report supports this growth view for 2026 with the forecast of a mid-double-digit YoY growth in panel procurement. “The supply chain is telling us foldable order books are filling up further out,” said Research Director Calvin Lee. “At the moment, this doesn’t look like a market that is plateauing – it looks like a market that is about to transform. And that requires a lot of planning, hence the slight pullback this year.”BackgroundCounterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.Follow Counterpoint [email protected]
I’ve never seen the point of a folding phone other than as a gimmick you show off to your friends.
When you need to read a Wikipedia table but it’s way too big for the phone screen without scrolling sideways or zooming so far you can’t read it
just like the curved screen gimmick, newer models have abandoned it largely, because the cost of fixxing one that is prone to breaking, plus screen protectors have a hard time cover the curved areas.
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The flip style ones are pretty useless other than getting a preview on the main cameras.
The fold style, especially a trifold, seems pretty useful, and lets you basically carry around a decent size tablet in your pocket.
I definitely wouldn’t call it a gimmick, although the price and durability tradeoffs are nowhere near worth it for 99% of people.
As someone who had a Samsung Flip3, I miss how easy it was to carry it around. It didn’t feel like a brick that I had to take out of my pocket every time I needed to check my notifications. It was also surprisingly durable. Price is the main downside of these phones.
There’s a fair chance I’ll buy another one in the future if I have enough money when switching phones.
Linus tech tips did an Android 30 day challenge trying to convert apple users and one of them said the foldable phone was nice because it actually fit in their pockets and belongings. Eventually they still stuck with their iphone because they’re too dependent on the ecosystem though.