Foldable smartphone shipments are projected to grow 55 to 198
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Foldable smartphone shipments are projected to grow 55% to 19.8 million units in 2023

Due to the global economic downturn, the smartphone market will not be able to reach the previously forecast mark of 1.2 billion units this year, analysts calculated TrendForce. However, sales of foldable smartphones will continue to grow significantly – according to experts, their shipments will reach 19.8 million units in 2023, up 55% from 12.8 million units in 2022.

The main obstacle to the promotion of this technology is the high prices, but they are already falling: the consumer is no longer offered to pay significantly more than $ 2,000 for a device like the Huawei X2 – active work is underway to reduce the cost for devices to lower. Today, organic components make up 23% of the cost of a foldable OLED display, and prices will come down as new vendors enter the market. A similar process is happening in the market for folding screen hinges: they used to cost 800-1200 yuan ($113-170), but they’re also getting cheaper.

Samsung, once a pioneer in the foldable smartphone market, continues to lead the way in research and technology with the announcement of the Fold/Flip 5 series in late July, which will go on sale in August. The displays of these devices are expected to be larger than the previous generation models. Samsung controls 70% of the foldable smartphone market with expected shipments of 13 million units this year.

    Projected market penetration of OLED panels in the smartphone market from 2019 to 2028 Image source: trendforce.com

Projected market penetration of OLED panels in the smartphone market from 2019 to 2028 Image source: trendforce.com

Chinese brands Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and Honor are also joining the race in this direction. For example, last year Huawei launched the Pocket S model, which received a positive reception from consumers despite the lack of 5G support. Last year, Huawei’s share of the foldable smartphone market was about 10%, and it could approach 20% by the end of this year. Other Chinese manufacturers are content with shares of 3-5% – they will be able to strengthen their presence at the expense of the international market.

The recent major event in the global foldable smartphone market was the announcement of the Google Pixel Fold with a 7.6-inch 2208×1840 pixel foldable display and a 5.8-inch 2092×1080 pixel external display. It should also be noted that the Chinese holding Transsion has a long-term presence on the African market – earlier this year the company presented the Tecno Phantom V Fold model.

More and more manufacturers will enter the market for foldable smartphones, which will make these devices account for 1.7% of all smartphones by the end of 2023 and will increase to 5% by 2027, according to TrendForce analysts.

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Johnson Smith

Johnson Smith is interested in Home Theater & Audio, Smart Tech, Google News & Products, How To, Apple News & Products, Cell Phones, Automotive Technology.

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