The global foldable smartphone market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR of 20.5% during the forecast period. The rise in the competition among players and availability of multiple reliable foldable smartphones have grown the global foldable smartphone market significantly and is anticipated to grow exponentially in the upcoming years. As per the Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) reports, in Q3 2021 the foldable smartphones shipments grew to 480% from 215% in Q2 2021. The foldable smartphone was just a concept a few years back but it got commercialized in 2019. Since the first launch, it got a lot of attention from market players, tech enthusiasts, and general consumers. In just a few years, multiple market players like Xiaomi, Huawei, and others launched their own foldable phones, and multiple other market players are also working on their own products. Apart from this, the high concumer expending on smartphones is motivating smartphone manufactueres to coming up with new products in the market, which in turn aiding in the market growth.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Foldable Smartphone Market

The COVID-19 pandemic had affected most of the industries including the smartphone industry. Due to the spread of the virus, most of the governments imposed lockdown which restricted the research & development programs, and manufacturing of the new products. It constrained the market players to fulfill the rising market demand, and development of new products or technologies. However, as the market gets normal, the sales of foldable phones grew significantly with new product launches by the smartphone companies. For instance, in December 2021, Samsung released the first month sales of Samsung’s foldable devices, Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3, which exceeded the total accumulative sales of Samsung foldable devices released in 2020. 

Segmental Outlook 

The global foldable smartphone market is segmented based on the functionality type and distribution channel. Based on the functionality type, the market is segmented into inward fold and outward fold. Based on the distribution channel, the market is sub-segmented into the online and offline. The online segment is likely to generate high revenue share in the makret owing to the rapid gprwth in e-commerce platforms along with availability of plenty of affordable foldable smartphones on online websites.

Global Foldable Smartphone  Market Share by Functionality Type, 2020 (%)

The Inward Fold Segment Holds the Major Share in the Global Foldable Smartphone Market

Among the functionality type, the inward fold segment holds the major share in the market and is anticipated to grow as the fastest segment during the forecast period. The inward fold is the first type of fold used in foldable smartphones, which allows consumers to have two screens, small one at the outside and the bigger one on the inside. Over the period of time, inward fold in foldable smartphones was found to be much more practical and durable compared to the outward fold, which has one big screen. One of the major drawbacks of the outward fold is it exposes the delicate foldable screen to the atmosphere which can damage the screen easily. Some of the companies, which were using outward fold for the foldable smartphones, changed the design to the inward fold after getting feedback from the experts, and consumers. For instance in  February 2021, Huawei launched the 2nd version of its foldable smartphone’s series Mate X2 with inward fold functionality which is different from its predecessor Mate X with outward folding functionality. 

Regional Outlooks

The global foldable smartphone market is further segmented based on geography including North America (the US, and Canada), Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Others), Asia-Pacific (India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Others), and the Rest of the World (the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America).  North America is likely to contribute highest share in the market and expected to be on dominant position among all the region during the forecast period. The presence of major players in the region is the prominent factor for the market growth. Moreover, early adoption of latest technologies, and high consumer spending on smartphones is also ehancing the overall market growth. 

Global Foldable Smartphone  Market Growth, by Region 2021-2027

The Asia-Pacific Region Emerges as the Fasest Growing in the Global Foldable Smartphone Market

Geographically, Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR market during the forecast period. The major factor is the rapidly growing technological advancements in the foldable smartphone in the region by market players such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and others. Most of the available foldable smartphones have been launched by Asia-Pacific region’s companies. These market players hold the major market share and have grown the competition in the market which led to the growth of the foldable smartphone market in the region. As per the DSCC report of Q3 2021, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 had a 60% share, and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 had a 23% share of the total foldable smartphone shipments.

Market Players Outlook

The major companies serving the global foldable smartphone market include Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., ., LG Electronics Inc, Microsoft Corp, Motorola Mobility LLC, OPPO Co. Ltd., Royole Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, TCL Corp, Xiaomi Corp, and others. The market players are considerably contributing to the market growth by the adoption of various strategies including mergers & acquisitions, collaborations, funding, and new product launches, to stay competitive in the market. For instance, in December 2021, OPPO released its foldable smartphone Oppo Find N. The smartphone offers a 7.10-inch touchscreen primary display with inward fold functionality. It also features a 5.49-inch outer display and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. 

The Report Covers

    • Market value data analysis of 2020 and forecast to 2027.

    • Annualized market revenues ($ million) for each market segment.

    • Country-wise analysis of major geographical regions.

    • Key companies operating in the global foldable smartphone market. Based on the availability of data, information related to new product launches, and relevant news is also available in the report.

   • Analysis of business strategies by identifying the key market segments positioned for strong growth in the future.

    • Analysis of market-entry and market expansion strategies.

    • Competitive strategies by identifying ‘who-stands-where’ in the market.