Foldable phones once promised to be the next big wave in smartphones, bringing a fresh take on a pocket large screen experience. But after years of fast growth, 2025 marked the first real slowdown for the category. Industry data has revealed that the foldable segment not only cooled off, but may have actually declined. But is this just a one-off dip, or does it point to a wider trend? Read on to find out.

Foldables in 2025: A Rare Decline After Years of Expansion

For much of the early 2020s, foldables grew rapidly as more brands entered the space and technology improved. These flexible phones got better and better, and certain models became a lot more accessible in terms of pricing. However, reports have projected a drop in foldable smartphone growth in 2025. According to Counterpoint Research, panel shipments for foldable displays are expected to fall about 4% in 2025 after flat gains in 2024.

The report adds that shipment figures show a broader trend of foldable phones losing popularity as manufacturers shipped fewer models than in previous years. The declining number of distinct foldable phones in 2025 reflects caution from brands that once flooded the market with multiple models.

Samsung’s Sales Dip and Market Share Struggles

Samsung has been the long standing leader in the foldable segment. But the South Korean tech giant has been seeing a decline in foldable sales. This continues even after the release of its latest Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 series of foldable phones. Overall, foldables still make up a tiny slice of the entire smartphone landscape. Despite eye-catching new releases, they’re estimated to account for just around 1.5% of all smartphone sales. In other words, more than 98% of phones sold remain traditional slabs.

Consumers Are Still Wary

While the global market cooled, China bucked the trend with solid growth. Foldable shipments in China expanded significantly, with reports indicating over 30% growth in 2025, thanks mainly to strong demand for Huawei’s models and other local brands. That regional outperformance highlights that demand pockets do exist, although this does not reflect a true global momentum just yet.

Why 2026 Could Be Pivotal

Many analysts see 2026 as a turning point for the foldable category, and one major reason that could back this growth is Apple’s highly anticipated first foldable iPhone. Multiple reports suggest Apple plans to launch a foldable device in the second half of 2026, potentially leveraging its massive customer base to expand awareness and adoption.

This could be great for the entire foldable segment since Apple’s entry could expand markets rather than just redistribute existing demand. Apple’s launch of its foldable will likely lead to significant growth in foldable display shipments in 2026 as well, thanks to renewed interest.

What 2026 Needs to Break Through

Here’s what the foldable phones need to truly shift from niche to mainstream in 2026:

• Better pricing and durability: Foldables need to close the price gap with high-end flat phones and continue ramping up durability to lessen repair and longevity concerns.
• Clear use-cases: These devices must stand out with everyday advantages for productivity, multitasking and media.
• Apple’s entry as a catalyst: If Apple’s foldable iPhone delivers strong performance and ecosystem synergy, it could validate the category for millions more buyers outside current early adopters.

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Foldable smartphones are becoming more and more popular. Recent reports show that in the third quarter of the year, companies like Samsung, Google, Huawei, Xiaomi, TECNO, and others sold a whopping 7 million foldable phones, setting a record. The annual growth rate is a solid 16%, and compared to the previous quarter, it shot up by a huge 215%. Now, the big question is: how much of the market did each brand grab during this amazing growth? Here are the details…

Samsung Dominates Q3 Foldable Smartphone Sales with 45% Market Share

When it comes to foldable smartphones, Samsung, the first brand that comes to mind, stayed at the top this quarter. The company grabbed a 45% share of the market. At first glance, it might raise eyebrows that the company’s numbers went down by 75%. However, when you consider the increasing competition and sales from other brands, it’s not all that surprising. This is especially true when you think about how Samsung’s models are pricier compared to all its competitors.

Right now, Honor and Huawei are both in the second spot in the market, sharing it with a 6% market share each. Other brands like OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi are also in the mix. Experts are saying that the last quarter of 2023 might bring a change. They predict a significant drop in smartphone sales, with an expected decrease of as much as 36%.

Unfortunately, it looks like Samsung might be hit hard by this situation. As mentioned earlier, even though Samsung’s market share is decreasing, their positive outlook is mainly because the overall market is growing. To put it simply, while Samsung’s piece of the pie from a 100-slice cake is getting smaller, it’s not a big deal because the whole cake is getting bigger.

However, if sales drop and competition heats up in the last quarter of the year, and both the overall market and Samsung’s share go down, the Korean manufacturer could face a real problem. Still, there’s nothing we can do about all this except wait and see what happens.

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At the moment, only a handful of brands have launched their own foldable smartphones in the market, which means that certain brands still hold a dominance in the market. While this was expected to change as more OEMs were expected to launch their own foldable offerings, it seems that delays and cancellations might have companies like Samsung and Huawei still dominate this segment.

Just earlier this week, we had reported on Google apparently cancelling its upcoming foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold. Although the main reason for the cancellation is unknown, it appears that a mix of supply constraints and issues with development might have been the cause for cancellation. In other words, Samsung and Huawei still reign supreme in this category.

According to DSCC’s Ross Young, Google’s cancellation and other brands either delaying or downsizing their foldable phone production due to chip shortage will have Samsung’s share in the market go up from 83 percent last year to 86 percent in 2021. Previously, it was estimated by analysts that the South Korean tech giant’s market share would drop as more brands launch their foldable phones.

But it seems that this might not be the case anytime soon. Similarly, Huawei is still the second largest foldable smartphone maker, however, its market share stands at just 10 percent. Meaning, the foldable segment was easily dominated by the 2021 Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 models.

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The recently launched Galaxy Z Flip3 and Galaxy Z Fold3 are the best foldable smartphones to date. They are expected to make the foldable category mainstream. It is evident from the initial sales numbers. According to a report by DSCC, this niche category of phones will explode in the coming quarters.

According to DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants), a record 819K foldable smartphones were sold in Q2 2021. The numbers were up by 147% QoQ and 0.8% YoY. The research firm predicts massive growth in the remaining two quarters of this year.

The newly published report by DSCC says that the sales of foldable smartphones will increment by 215% QoQ and 480% YoY to 2.6M units. The growth figures will stand at 46% QoQ, 450% YoY, and 3.8 million units in Q4 2021.

The firm’s updated estimation comes from the launch of Galaxy Z Flip3 and Galaxy Z Fold3 with features like water resistance, stylus support, UPC (Under Panel Camera), and more. As per the report, Samsung reportedly spent a whopping $2 billion for marketing and promotions of these phones to create awareness regarding foldables among consumers.

The new estimated figures also account for upcoming foldable smartphones from OEMs like Google, HONOR, HUAWEI, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022. The numbers also take account of cost reduction in the production of foldable panels and UTG (Ultra Thin Glass).

DSCC now predicts the shipments of foldable smartphones to increase 232% in 2021 to 7.5 million units. In 2022, these numbers will be 112% and 15.9 million units, followed by 51 million units in shipments in 2026.

The firm anticipates Samsung to hold a lion share of 85% in the foldable smartphone category in 2021, followed by HUAWEI with a 10% share. Further, the Galaxy Z Flip3 will be the best-selling foldable smartphone of 2021.

Lastly, Samsung Display’s market share in the foldable display market is projected to increase from 83.5% in 2020 to 83.9% in 2021. The panel shipments will surge from 3.2 million units in 2020 to 10.4 million units in 2021.

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The popularity of foldable smartphone has grown and even gathered a lot of momentum in recent times. This is likely due to the launch of newer models, but the significant growth is still confined to a small user base in a niche market. However, a new report has suggested that over 18 million units are expected to ship by the end of 2022.

According to a Counterpoint Research report, the foldable handset shipments share in the overall market will remain within the single digit for the near future as the segment has OEM experiment with various form factors, designs, materials, and more. In 2020, the foldable devices market only accounted for a fraction of a percent of last year’s 1.3 billion US Dollars total market. However, this is expected to reach just about 1.2 percent by the year 2022.

As per Counterpoint Research Senior Analyst Jene Park, “Samsung has led the segment in terms of design, marketing, and shipments, dominating last year with over 80% share of the foldables market. The company also had the strongest lineup, with various models and variants including a second gen flagship. This year, however, Samsung is facing more competition, with the release of Huawei’s critically lauded Mate X2, Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Fold, and announcements from Vivo, OPPO, and TCL hinting at 2021 launches.”

Furthermore, the report also stated that there are a few major reasons for the growth of the market, namely the fall of foldable handset prices that are now around 1,000 to 1,500 US Dollars. Similarly, more smartphone makers are also working on this along with Apple‘s entry into the market as well.

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DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants) has released its new report on foldable displays for March 2021. According to the report, Samsung and Samsung Display will continue to remain dominant throughout this year, just like 2020. However, unlike the previous year, the shipments will see momentum only in the second half of 2021.

Foldable and Rollable Smartphones Performance Q4 2020

As per DSCC’s latest report, shipments of foldable smartphones grew 54% QoQ and 242% YoY in Q4 2020. Samsung Electronics was the leading brand in the fourth quarter of last year with a whopping 91% market share based on units.

Samsung Electronics led the foldable smartphone market throughout 2020 with an 87% unit market share. The overall market shipped 2.2 million units, which is 1000% more, compared to 2019.

Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy Z Flip was the most-shipped foldable smartphone with a 50% market share, followed by Galaxy Z Fold2. South Korea accounted for more than 50% share of Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Flip 5G worldwide.

Foldable and Rollable Smartphones Forecast 2021

According to Ross Young, the CEO of DSCC, Samsung Electronics has delayed the launch of its next-generation foldable smartphones until Q3 2021. The South Korean tech giant is expected to release at least three foldables. 

The Galaxy Z Fold series could replace the Galaxy Note series as the company’s second flagship series after the Galaxy S series. Additionally, the firm is also expected to launch a more-affordable Galaxy Z Flip clamshell foldable smartphone.

Further, Samsung Display, the sister company of Samsung Electronics will start selling foldable displays with UTG (Ultra-Thin Glass) to other brands in H2 2021. A total of at least 12 different foldable and rollable smartphones from 8 brands are expected to release in the market in the second half of this year.

Samsung Electronics is forecasted to lead the foldable and rollable smartphone market with an 81% unit share and a 76% revenue share in 2021. On the other hand, Samsung Display’s unit market share will increase from 83.5% in 2020 to 87% in 2021 since it will be selling displays to other brands in H2 2021.

However, the shipments of the entire foldable smartphone market are expected to surge by only 1% YoY and 40% YoY in Q1 2021 and Q2 2021 respectively. But the shipments should shoot up over 100% in the remaining quarters (Q3, Q4).

More than 5.1 million foldable and rollable smartphones are expected to be shipped this year. More than 3 million of these shipments are said to happen in Q4 2021. In other words, unit shipments could grow up to 128% while revenue may increment up to 137% to $8.6 billion, as compared to 2020.

Foldable smartphones with Galaxy Z Fold-like form factor (book-type) are expected to account for 49% of foldable and rollable smartphone revenues in 2021, up from 39% in 2020. That’s because new entrants in this category, like Google, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi are reported to release phones with the said form factor.

Last but not least, as per Ross Young, the devices from new entrants will feature in-folding displays as small as 7.1-inch and as large as 8.2-inch, in addition to sub-7-inch clamshell foldable phones.

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Samsung had a clear dominance in the foldable smartphone market in 2020. The company held a market share of over 90 percent during this year. Although, big changes are expected to arrive in 2021 as the foldable handset market is expected to grow further next year.

According to a DSCC report, the foldable display panel shipments have risen by 454 percent over 2019 to 3.1 million units in 2020. This is further expected to rise by another 394 percent in the following year with estimated shipments being valued at 462 million US Dollars. Notably, these figures are actually lower than initial projections due to US sanctions against Huawei, which is preventing the company from launching the Mate X2 that was expected to arrive in Q4 of 2020.

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Due to the lack of any major competitor, the South Korean tech giant dominated the market with new launches this year. In 2020, the company released the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which were two of the best selling foldable handsets in the year, both in terms of units shipped and revenue. On the basis of panel procurement, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 led the market with a 65 percent market share followed by the Galaxy Z Flip 5G with a 27 percent market share.

Furthermore, the report also states that the company is focusing more on its foldable Z series over its flagship Note series. In the coming year, Samsung is expected to launch no less than 3 foldable handsets, which will likely include Z series phones and their respective 2nd generation iterations. This period would likely also have Samsung Display aggressively push its display technology to help other brands to enter the market as well with its UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) cover solutions.

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Foldables are said to take over the world of smartphones in the next few years. We can already witness their success, thanks to devices from Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei. The South Korean giant is clearly a market leader in this segment. A new report by Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) also confirms the same providing more insights into this new breed of mobile devices for the year 2020.

The report by DSCC says that Q2 of 2020 is expected to be the record period for foldable panel shipments this year. The firm also forecasts Galaxy Z Flip to the top-selling foldable of the entire 2020, followed by Galaxy Z Fold2, Motorola razr, and Galaxy Z Flip 5G.

Talking about brands, Samsung will account for more than 80% of the market by the end of 2020.  The report adds that this is due to Huawei’s inability to launch the Mate X2, no thanks to the US ban.

Further, clamshell foldable smartphones will cover 60% of the market, again due to the absence of Mate X2 with an in-folding screen. As for display cover, UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) will lead with more than 80% share.

Whereas, Nitto and Colon have a dominate share in foldable polarizers and CPI (Colorless Polyimide) respectively over Sumitomo Chemical. Lastly, Qualcomm has over 95% market with Snapdragon 855+ leading the chart, followed by Snapdragon 865+.

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