As per IDC, the Chinese foldable mobile phone market registered a growth of 114.5% YoY in 2023. The number of shipments hit 7.007 million, which is more than what the Indian tablet market managed to ship.
The fourth quarter shipment alone was 2.771 million units. New products from Huawei, Oppo, and Honor contributed to the growth.
The Chinese foldable mobile phone market grew more than 100% YoY over the last four years since the first device hit the market in 2019. As the category is now more mature, its performance is forecasted to further improve in the coming years.
The share of foldables priced above $1000 dropped to 66.5% from 81%. This was due to the increase in affordable foldables in the $400-$600 segment.
However, Chinese consumers preferred the book-style horizontal foldables more than the cheaper clamshell vertical foldables. The adoption rate of this type was high among wealthy business people.
For such premium consumers, price is not an issue. Thus, they opted for horizontal foldables which offer the maximum set of features on a foldable phone.
Coming to the brands, Huawei led the market with a 37.4% share. The Mate X5 continues to be in more demand than supply since its launch.
The global top player Samsung only came fourth with an 11% share. While second, third, and fifth places were occupied by Oppo (18.3%), Honor (17.7%), and Vivo (9.7%), respectively. The Find N3 Flip was the most popular clamshell foldable.
Finally, Xiaomi obtained sixth position with a 4.6% share and Lenovo at seventh place had a mere 1.4% share.
RELATED:
- Oppo, Vivo may exit foldable market; Huawei, Samsung consider tri-foldable, rollable display phones
- Apple rumored to double down on foldable iPhone, Vision Pro team joins development
- Apple’s Smart Ring Might Be Closer to Launch than We Think, Rumor States
- Lenovo Legion Y700 2023: Save $100 on this 8-inch gaming Android tablet
- Vivo X Fold 3 images leak with possible Mac integration
