Samsung has an enormous lead over its rivals in the foldable smartphone market. And last year, the company shipped more foldable devices than all other OEMs combined, reveals a Financial Times report based on Canalys research.
The report (via Steven Kiernan / Yongsub Eric Shin) says the foldable smartphone market recorded 14.2 million total shipments in 2022. And of the 14.2 million, Samsung's foldable devices accounted for a little under 12 million.
Meanwhile, Huawei shipped fewer than 2 million foldable phones, and Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor each shipped under 1 million foldable devices throughout 2022. And despite the global release of the Razr foldable phone, Motorola was the least successful OEM, recording roughly 40,000 Razr shipments — a minuscule figure next to Samsung's nearly 12 million.
As for the foldable market as a whole, it seems to be in a relatively healthy place, even though Q4 2022 was the first quarter in which shipments declined. But 2022 was the worst year for smartphones, foldable or no. And even so, yearly foldable phone shipments increased year-on-year. Continuing this trend, Financial Times estimates that foldable smartphone shipments will double in 2023 and reach 30 million.
That sounds about right, given that Samsung aims to ship roughly 15 million Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 devices combined. Perhaps the company won't reach this goal by August-September when the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 should be unveiled, but the next-gen foldable phones will probably help the company reach its 15 million shipment target by the end of 2023.
