Foldable Phone Market to Grow Against Declining Global Smartphone Demand in 2022, Led by Samsung and Chinese Manufacturers

According to a report by the Taiwan-based Economic Daily News and the DIGITIMES research center, the global demand for smartphones is slightly sluggish in 2022, but the foldable screen market is growing against the trend. Samsung Electronics dominates the foldable screen smartphone market, with the global shipment estimated to double in 2022 and expected to reach about 30 million units this year.

Currently, foldable screen smartphones that fold inward from the left and right are predominant in the market. In addition to Samsung, Chinese manufacturers such as vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor launched left and right foldable screen smartphones in the second half of last year. The up and down foldable screen smartphones, on the other hand, are characterized by portability, and only Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei are expected to launch new models in 2022.

Samsung first launched the left and right foldable screen smartphone in 2019 and the up and down foldable screen in 2020. The overall foldable screen smartphone market continues to grow. Research shows that Samsung will still be the largest shipment player this year. However, Samsung's market share is expected to decline as several Chinese manufacturers continue to launch new foldable screen smartphones.

According to Canalys, a market research firm, foldable screen smartphones' global shipments are estimated to reach 14.2 million units in 2022, with Samsung's shipments close to 12 million units. Huawei ranked second, with shipments of fewer than 2 million units, while OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor's shipments were less than 1 million units in 2022. The performance of Motorola's Razr foldable smartphone was the worst, with a global shipment of approximately 40,000 units.