Shipments of foldable phones to the mainland Despite general weakening in the largest smartphone market globally, China more than quadrupled last year, and Huawei Technologies continues to be the nation’s leading seller in this expanding handset industry.
In 2022, there were 3.2 million foldable smartphone exports to the mainland. This year, that number rose to 7.01 million, a 114% increase, according to a data released on Tuesday by tech industry research firm IDC.
From the first of these models to be released on the mainland in 2019, IDC data indicated that this was the fourth consecutive year of triple-digit annual growth for this segment, which includes handsets that flip open vertically like clamshells and those shaped like booklets that expand horizontally into tablet form.
Demand for Huawei’s well-liked Mate X5 model, which was released in September, propelled the Shenzhen-based company to the top of the segment with a 37.4% market share. Significant competitors Oppo and Honor, which was originally Huawei’s low-cost smartphone brand, held respective shares of 18.3% and 17.7% of the market.
According to the IDC survey, Samsung Electronics, which accounted for almost half of all shipments of foldable phones worldwide last year, ranked fourth on the mainland with an 11% share.
The report claims that decreasing prices, which encouraged more people to purchase these phones, together with advancements in both hardware and software across a range of foldable phone models, were the main drivers of the segment’s rise.
Strong demand for foldable phones was a bright spot in an otherwise weak local market, as the nation’s unstable post-pandemic economic recovery caused handset sales to fall 5% year over year to 271.3 million units, the lowest yearly volume in a decade, according to IDC.
Guo Tianxiang, an analyst at IDC, predicts that many smartphone manufacturers will continue to prioritize folding versions this year. “It is noteworthy that attributes related to ‘lightness’ and ‘thinness’ are progressively impacting customers’ selection of foldable smartphone manufacturer,” Guo stated.
Strong demand for foldable phones was a bright spot in an otherwise weak local market, as the nation’s unstable post-pandemic economic recovery caused handset sales to fall 5% year over year to 271.3 million units, the lowest yearly volume in a decade, according to IDC.
Guo Tianxiang, an analyst at IDC, predicts that many smartphone manufacturers will continue to prioritize folding versions this year. “It is noteworthy that attributes related to ‘lightness’ and ‘thinness’ are progressively impacting customers’ selection of foldable smartphone manufacturer,” Guo stated.
Nonetheless, just a small portion of smartphones shipped worldwide and on the continent are foldable phones. Apple has not yet released a foldable smartphone model, despite dethroning Samsung as the world’s top smartphone seller in 2023.
However, despite this, the producer of the iPhone is still the “undisputed leader” in the worldwide luxury smartphone market, where devices start at US$600. According to a Counterpoint Research report published last month, the company held a commanding 71% share of this market last year.
An unidentified source was mentioned in a report published earlier this month by the online tech media publication The Information, which claimed that Apple was working on prototypes for a clamshell iPhone.