Global foldable smartphone shipments records its first YoY decline in Q4
The latest report from DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants) brings some bad news for foldable smartphones. According to the report, the foldable smartphone market recorded its first year-on-year (YoY) decline in Q4 2022. In terms of numbers, the shipment of foldable smartphones dropped 48% in Q4 2022 compared to Q3 2022 and 26% compared to Q4 2021.
Reportedly, 3.1 million foldable smartphones were shipped from the start of October 2022 to the end of December 2022. Although Q4 2022 saw a decline in shipments, the overall 2022 shipments number rose 62% to 12.9 million units. Samsung, as usual, remained the king in the foldable smartphone market with a market share of 83%. This number is down when compared to Q3’s 86% and Q4 2021’s 96%.
Samsung’s share declined as the foldable market saw new entrants from OPPO and Huawei
The reason behind Samsung’s quarter-to-quarter market share decline can be blamed on the sharp 50% drop in foldable shipment volume in Q4 202 after the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 during Q3 2022. Also, the Q4 release of the Apple iPhone 14 series stole the spotlight from the Samsung foldable, resulting in a decline in market share for the South Korean giant.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 was the top foldable in Q4 2022, grabbing 47% of the global smartphone pie. During the same quarter the previous year, it was the Galaxy Z Flip 3. So, what we can conclude from the trend is that people prefer the clamshell design more or they prefer not to spend over $1,000 on a foldable phone. Trailing behind Samsung’s top spot was Huawei in second place, followed by OPPO. This soft trend is expected to continue in the current quarter, resulting in a 3% year-on-year drop in handset sales globally.
Samsung was the top foldable display supplier with 81% of foldable displays used in Q4 2022. This is down from 91% in Q3 2022. Chinese supplier BOE’s share increased from 4% in Q3 to 17% in Q4 2022.
The latest report from DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants) brings some bad news for foldable smartphones. According to the report, the foldable smartphone market recorded its first year-on-year (YoY) decline in Q4 2022. In terms of numbers, the shipment of foldable smartphones dropped 48% in Q4 2022 compared to Q3 2022 and 26% compared to Q4 2021.
Reportedly, 3.1 million foldable smartphones were shipped from the start of October 2022 to the end of December 2022. Although Q4 2022 saw a decline in shipments, the overall 2022 shipments number rose 62% to 12.9 million units. Samsung, as usual, remained the king in the foldable smartphone market with a market share of 83%. This number is down when compared to Q3’s 86% and Q4 2021’s 96%.
Samsung’s share declined as the foldable market saw new entrants from OPPO and Huawei
The reason behind Samsung’s quarter-to-quarter market share decline can be blamed on the sharp 50% drop in foldable shipment volume in Q4 202 after the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 during Q3 2022. Also, the Q4 release of the Apple iPhone 14 series stole the spotlight from the Samsung foldable, resulting in a decline in market share for the South Korean giant.
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 was the top foldable in Q4 2022, grabbing 47% of the global smartphone pie. During the same quarter the previous year, it was the Galaxy Z Flip 3. So, what we can conclude from the trend is that people prefer the clamshell design more or they prefer not to spend over $1,000 on a foldable phone. Trailing behind Samsung’s top spot was Huawei in second place, followed by OPPO. This soft trend is expected to continue in the current quarter, resulting in a 3% year-on-year drop in handset sales globally.
Samsung was the top foldable display supplier with 81% of foldable displays used in Q4 2022. This is down from 91% in Q3 2022. Chinese supplier BOE’s share increased from 4% in Q3 to 17% in Q4 2022.