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Samsung dominated the foldable market last year accounting for 61% of shipments
Another big change for the Galaxy Z Flip, and some would argue that it is more important than adding protection from water, is the size of the external Cover Screen. The OG model was equipped with a small 1.1-inch Cover Screen the size of which practically made it useless.
Expanded to 1.9-inches on the Galaxy Flip 3, the larger Cover Screen allows users to see their notifications without opening the phone, use the external display as a viewfinder for selfies, see the time of day, access settings and widgets, and quickly use Samsung Pay. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 was also nearly $400 cheaper than its predecessor which might have had a lot to do with the big increase in units shipped.
Beside adding water-resistance to the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Samsung made the display on that model more durable and also added support for the S Pen. Samsung also slashed the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 by $200 compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 2. That took the price of the foldable from $1,999 to $1,799 leading to a huge increase in shipments from 700,000 units in 2020 to 2.5 million units in 2021.
Combined, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 accounted for the shipment of 7.1 million foldable handsets last year, or 61% of the total number delivered. Samsung expects shipments of its foldable phones to rise as much as 70% this year.
Huawei shipped 5G and 4G versions of the Mate X2
Because of the U.S. export rules blocking Huawei from receiving cutting-edge chips from foundries that use American equipment, the company had to offer a version of the Mate X2 that supports 4G LTE only. The latter recorded shipments of 300,000 phones.
Omida expects 14 million foldables to be shipped in 2022 compared to the 9 million that were delivered in 2021. By 2026, the analytical firm expects shipments of foldables to hit 61 million units making up 3.6% of all smartphone shipments.