Counterpoint: Global foldable smartphone shipments to drop 1% year-on-year in Q3 2024

According to the latest Counterpoint report, global foldable smartphone shipments fell 1% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024 after six consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth. This is also the first time in the history of this branch market that sales have declined in the third quarter, mainly due to the mediocre performance of Samsung's newly launched Galaxy Z6 series.

Samsung regained its position as the global market leader with 56% market share, driven by the launch of the Z6 series. The brand's shipments fell 21% year-on-year. Among Samsung's new models, the book-shaped Galaxy Z Fold 6 performed mediocrely, while the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip 6 sales struggled to catch up with the previous generation. The decline in global market share is partly due to the growth of foldable demand and contributions from China. Samsung's foldable market share in the third quarter of 2024 was relatively small, only 8%, while the undisputed global leader (excluding China) had an 82% share.

As the foldable device supply chain matures, Samsung is increasingly facing strong competition in North America from Motorola, which has launched a full range of Razr clamshell foldable devices priced under $1,000; in Western Europe, Samsung faces competition from Honor, which has launched an attractive and thin Magic V series of notebook-style foldable devices.

Huawei's foldable phone shipments continued to achieve year-on-year growth due to the steady popularity of Mate X5 and Pocket 2 in China. On the other hand, the company's new budget version Nova Flip and the world's first three-fold phone Mate XT are more experimental and have lower shipments than existing models. Huawei expects to launch Mate X6 in the fourth quarter of 2024, driving further market growth.

Honor and Motorola remain the fastest-growing brands in the foldable phone market, both benefiting from the launch of flagship products in June and July. Notably, Xiaomi achieved the highest year-on-year shipment growth among foldable brands, reaching 185%. This growth was driven by the launch of its first flip phone, Mix Flip, and its official debut in markets outside of China. The brand's global shipment share this quarter rose to 6%, the highest level since entering the foldable market in the first quarter of 2021.