According to the DSCC (Display Supply Chain) report, Huawei will surpass Samsung in foldable phone market share for the first time. The data tells us about an increasingly emerging market where shipments increased significantly in the last quarter of 2023. Although the crown was still in Samsung’s hands, the Chinese manufacturer was about to pull off the unthinkable: It looked like it was about to put an end to someone’s reign. Invincible.

Folding sales are growing rapidly. 33%. This is the figure DSCC gives when determining annual growth in global sales of foldable phones. The last quarter of 2023 was closed with 4.2 million shipments, and Samsung took the leadership of the market. Despite this, according to DSCC, demand for Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 was lower than expected.

Global folding shipments in 2023. Image: DSCC.

An upcoming surprise. According to the report, Huawei is expected to surpass Samsung in foldable phone market share in the first two quarters of the year. This will be mainly driven by sales of the Huawei Mate X5 and Pocket 2, two phones that have a significant presence in markets like China.

Not everything that glitters is gold. Although Huawei is expected to surpass Samsung at the beginning of the year, the situation cannot be reflected in the rest of the world. The company has support from the Chinese government and is performing outstandingly in its home country, where it already ranks first in sales.

In a market where shipments are less than folded products, increase A photo from a company in the Asian region could completely change photography. Despite this, Huawei’s presence in Europe remains a reference since the veto that prevented it from using Google services on its phones.

Samsung has no plans to change its format. While manufacturers such as Huawei, Honor and OPPO are betting on formats similar to a “regular” phone that becomes a high-resolution foldable when opened, recent leaks suggest that Samsung has no plans to change the format with foldable phones.

According to leaks, Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 will be an improvement beyond the continuous development of previous models. An AZ Flip with a convincing clamshell format and a Z Fold with a much more panoramic format than some analysts wanted. Be that as it may, despite Huawei’s success in China, few threats loom over Samsung in Europe.

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in Xataka | The future of smartphones is foldable ones. They only have two problems to overcome