What you need to know
- A new report from Counterpoint Research claims 2.8 million foldable phones were shipped this year.
- Unsurprisingly, Samsung was the market leader and accounted for 73% of total shipments.
- The global market for foldables is expected to grow to 17 million units in 2022.
A total of 2.8 million foldable smartphones were shipped this year, according to a new report from market research firm CounterPoint (via TheElec). Unsurprisingly, Samsung was the undisputed leader in the foldable phone market in 2020, accounting for 73% of the total shipments.
Since Motorola and Huawei were the only other companies to launch new foldable phones in 2020, it isn't surprising that Samsung dominated the global market this year. What is impressive, however, is that the company shipped over 2 million foldable phones. Last year, the company could only ship around 500,000 units of the Galaxy Fold.
Samsung launched three foldable phones this year: Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Z Fold 2, and the Galaxy Z Flip 5G. Thanks to its superior hardware and more competitive pricing, the Galaxy Z Flip proved to be a lot more popular among consumers than the Motorola RAZR. The Galaxy Z Fold 2, on the other hand, is a significant upgrade over the original Fold in nearly every area and among the best Android phones released this year.
CounterPoint expects Samsung to maintain its leadership position in the global foldable phone market in the foreseeable future, since it doesn't have to worry about securing supply of cutting-edge foldable displays. While the lack of competition has helped Samsung this year, things are expected to change in 2021. Xiaomi, OPPO, and a few other Android OEMs are rumored to launch their first foldable phones next year.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
The Galaxy Z Flip is currently the best flip phone on the market. While it feels like a regular phone when it's open, it can be folded in half to a much more compact size.
- $980 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
- $1,100 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
