Huawei Poised to Dethrone Samsung in Foldables

Since the debut of the inaugural foldable model, the Galaxy Fold, in 2019, Samsung has annually released new iterations of the Galaxy Z Fold/Flip series from 2020 through 2023, culminating in the Galaxy Z Fold 5/Flip 5. Despite the entry of numerous competitors introducing a significant number of foldable models, Samsung has maintained a dominant position, reigning over this niche market.

A recent report from DSCC indicates that while Samsung continues to lead as the largest foldable smartphone brand in the fourth quarter of 2023, Huawei and Honor are rapidly closing the gap. Samsung is at risk of losing its top spot in the global foldable smartphone market in the first quarter of 2024, potentially ceding its position to Huawei, which would mark an end to Samsung’s four-year dominion.

Last year, the global foldable smartphone market saw the release of 23 models. Within the top ten rankings of the fourth quarter of 2023, four models were from Samsung, with Honor and OPPO each contributing two, and the remaining spots were occupied by Huawei and Xiaomi, respectively. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 secured the first position, followed by the Mate X4, with the Magic VS2, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Find N3 Flip rounding out the top five.

However, the landscape of the foldable smartphone market is poised for a shift in 2024. Huawei is expected to surpass Samsung with the launch of the Mate X5 and Pocket 2 models, while Samsung may have to wait until the latter half of the year for the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 6/Flip 6 to potentially reclaim its standing, which could prove to be too late as market dynamics might have significantly changed within a few months.

It is understood that approximately 27 foldable smartphone models are set to launch in 2024.