Global foldable smartphone market forecast 2023: Tough competition, price trends and more

Global foldable smartphone shipments are expected to grow 52% on a year-over-year (YoY) basis in the financial year 2023 (FY 2023), a new report has said, adding that the 22.7 million units will be shipped by March 31, 2024. The report also says that the market will also see tough competition with the launch of foldable handsets from multiple OEMs.
As per Counterpoint Research’s Global Foldable Smartphone Market Forecast, Q3 2022 report, cumulative shipments in Q1-Q3 2022 grew 90% to 9.5 million units as compared to the same time period a year ago.
The market research firm forecasts that by the end of FY 2022, global foldable shipments will amount to 14.9 million units. It highlighted that the shipment growth is set to decline in Q4 2022 due to global inflation and the economic downturn.

“The numbers are tiny when put in the context of the broader market, but looking at the ever-important ultra-premium segment ($1,000 and above), we’re seeing foldable start to take hold. In that category, foldable hit double-digit shipment shares this year, and we expect it to rise above 20% in 2023,” Tarun Pathak, Director of Counterpoint’s global smartphone practice, said in a statement.
Which companies will launch foldable smartphones in 2023
The report says that the global foldable market will likely see competition in 2023 as more Chinese players are expected to launch foldable smartphones. Honor, Motorola and Xiaomi are expected to enter the foldable smartphone space outside China. Additionally, Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo are also tipped to launch new foldable products in 2023.
However, Samsung is expected to continue to lead the foldable market. As per Senior Analyst Jene Park, the competition will intensify in 2023 in the global foldable smartphone market.

“Samsung launched the Galaxy W 23 Flip/Fold in response to the strong foldable demand in China, while Chinese OEMs are expanding to the Western European market. In light of these events, the China and Western Europe foldable markets will likely become the centre of a fierce battle,” Park added.
Park also says Apple remains absent from the firm’s short-term forecasts as the company “is known for taking their time.”
Foldable smartphone price trends
Due to an increase in competition in the foldable smartphone market, the prices of these smartphones are expected to reduce in 2023. Counterpoint notes that high prices of foldable smartphones are a major obstacle in their popularisation.