(JW Insights) Jul 14 -- The global foldable smartphone market increased 64% YoY in Q1 2023 to reach 2.5 million units and the China market contributed 1.08 million, according to the Counterpoint Research.

This is quite significant because the foldable market rose amid a 14.2% year-on-year decline in the overall global smartphone market during the same period, said Counterpoint's Foldable Tracker and Foldable Insight Report released on July 7.

Foldable smartphone markets in almost all major regions, including China, North America and Western Europe, displayed strong growth in Q1 2023.

Although the Chinese smartphone market declined by about 8% YoY in Q1 2023, its foldable market continued to grow, surging 117% YoY to 1.08 million units. It is expected to grow in the rest of 2023.

Commenting on this phenomenon, research analyst Woojin Son said, “In China, new foldable products such as the OPPO N2 and N2 Flip had grand releases. These big launch events constantly pique the market’s interest. Consequently, Chinese consumers have become more familiar with foldable products compared to other regions.”

OPPO’s strong Q1 2023 performance is noteworthy as it reflects the brand’s success in the Chinese foldable market, which is emerging as the world’s largest foldable smartphone market. OPPO ranked second in the Chinese foldable market with a slight gap with leader Huawei, helped by the N2 Flip and N2 which were released at the end of 2022.

Samsung’s growth in the China foldable market is also noteworthy. Samsung made efforts to target the Chinese market by launching the W23 and W23 Flip.

Commenting on the foldable smartphone market outlook for 2023, senior analyst Jene Park said, “We believe that, in 2023, there will be 1) intensifying competition among OEMs in the global foldable market due to more aggressive target market expansion; 2) intensifying price competition; and 3) increasing sales volume of clamshell-type foldable smartphones through various product launches. ”

Addressing the big question around Apple’s entry into the foldable market, Park said, “Apple is still absent from our short-term forecasts. However, since overall consumer response to foldable phones is improving and Apple will be possibly releasing non-phone foldable products soon, the brand’s participation in the foldable smartphone market is likely to occur after 2025,” said the Counterpoint report.

(Gao J)