China’s foldable smartphone shipments more than double in 2023, as Huawei continues to lead the growing handset segment

Foldable phone shipments in mainland China more than doubled last year in spite of overall weakness in the world’s largest smartphone market, with Huawei Technologies remaining the country’s top vendor in this growing handset segment.

Mainland shipments of foldable smartphones reached 7.01 million units last year, up 114 per cent from 3.2 million in 2022, according to a report on Tuesday by tech market research firm IDC.

That marked the fourth consecutive year of triple-digit annual growth for this segment – including clamshell-type handsets that flip open vertically and those designed like a booklet that expand horizontally into tablet form – since the first such models were introduced on the mainland in 2019, IDC data showed.

Shoppers check out Huawei Technologies’ Mate X5 foldable smartphone, built with an advanced Kirin chip and Hasselblad camera, at one of the company’s stores in Beijing on September 27, 2023. Photo: Shutterstock

Samsung Electronics, which accounted for more than half of global foldable phone shipments last year, ranked fourth on the mainland with an 11 per cent share, according to the IDC report.

The segment’s growth was driven by both hardware and software improvements in various foldable phone models, along with lower prices that helped encourage more consumers to buy these handsets, according to the report.

Strong foldable phone demand was a bright spot in an otherwise sluggish domestic market, which saw handset shipments decline 5 per cent year on year to 271.3 million units – the lowest annual volume in a decade, according to IDC – amid the country’s shaky post-pandemic economic recovery.

Foldable models will remain a focus of many smartphone makers this year, according to IDC analyst Guo Tianxiang. “It is important to note that features around ‘thinness’ and ‘lightness’ are increasingly influencing consumers’ choice of foldable smartphone brand,” Guo said.

Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 3D foldable smartphone displays are seen at the company’s flagship store in Shanghai on October 23, 2023. Photo: Shutterstock

While demand for lower-priced and handy clamshell-type foldable phones remained strong, IDC data showed that booklet-style models gained more ground on the mainland. These booklet models, such as Huawei’s popular Mate X5, accounted for 68.1 per cent of the segment, up from 57.7 per cent in 2022.

Despite their premium price tag, these booklet-type foldable phones, which provide a tablet-sized display when fully opened, have become the preferred model for businesspeople who work remotely.

But that has not stopped the iPhone maker from remaining “undisputed leader” in the global premium smartphone market, where handsets are priced from US$600, with a dominant 71 per cent share last year, according to a report from Counterpoint Research last month.

Apple is said to be developing prototypes for a clamshell iPhone, according to a report earlier this month by online tech media outlet The Information, which cited an anonymous source.

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