Tech

For now, the folding smartphone segment is likely to remain a niche market

The market share of folding phones is likely to remain negligible, below 2%, in the near future

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 18 Feb 2022 10:15AM

For now, the folding smartphone segment is likely to remain a niche market — The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 was the first folding smartphone to come in at under US$1,000. – ETX pic, February 18, 2022

IN 2021, some 1.348 billion smartphones were sold worldwide, including 7.1 million folding models. This represents a paltry 0.5% of the market. By 2025, IDC predicts that this share could rise to 1.8%, with annual sales rising fourfold to 27.6 million unit shipments, out of a total 1.518 billion smartphone shipments worldwide.

This still represents an average annual sales growth of 70%, albeit for a market that is still not particularly competitive. The most compact models, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, are the most popular in the sector, even though they are, at best, close to US$1,000 (RM4,100). It is also these very high prices – which can easily exceed US$2,000 per device – that mean that this market is likely to remain relatively exclusive for a few more years.

Today, these devices all belong to the premium Android sector, where the battle between manufacturers to find the right format is proving particularly interesting. If demand should ever grow, then prices will be driven down and, ultimately, folding smartphones will become mainstream devices. But this appears unlikely to happen within the next five years. – ETX Daily Up, February 18, 2022