Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and other manufacturers accelerate layout of foldable phones, with shipments increasing by 172% last year

In recent years, with the maturity of flexible OLED technology, the plasticity of panel shapes has been enhanced, bringing opportunities for changes in the overall shape of smartphones. Major smartphone terminal manufacturers around the world have gradually penetrated into the field of foldable screen smartphones.Flexible electrode shielding materialIt will have a wider range of applications.

In 2021, Samsung cancelled its Galaxy Note product line and shifted its focus from its highest end flagship to the foldable screen phone Galaxy Z series; Although Huawei's shipments have sharply decreased due to external factors, in order to maintain its high-end image and position in the foldable screen phone market, it has iterated its foldable screen phone series normally and released its first "shell style" foldable screen phone P50 Pocket. Xiaomi entered the foldable screen phone market in March 2021, releasing its first foldable screen phone Mix Fold and setting the starting price for foldable screen phones below 10000 yuan.

Apart from Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi, OPPO、vivo、 Mainstream manufacturers such as Honor are coming one after another, and this once blue ocean market is becoming crowded. In terms of the core form design, a relatively complete design concept has evolved, and various solutions such as internal folding, external folding, and double folding have emerged.

According to survey data from Sigmaintell, the global shipment scale of foldable smartphones in 2021 was about 7.21 million units, a year-on-year increase of about 171.9%. The maturity of technology and the downward trend in prices have driven the continuous heating up of the foldable screen smartphone market. With the further maturity of folding upstream devices, terminal manufacturers have also begun to pre research various forms of smartphones.

For the foldable screen phone market, technological and user experience upgrades bring market demand, and price declines help expand market size. With the maturity of the supply chain, there is still some room for cost reduction of foldable screen phones, and the positioning of foldable screen phones of various brands will gradually shift from super flagship to mainstream flagship. According to the latest data from Sigmientell, it is expected that the global shipment scale of foldable smartphones will reach about 14.4 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of about 99.6%, and is expected to exceed 70 million units by 2025.

Qi Yingnan, Deputy Director of Research at Counterpoint Research, pointed out that top domestic brands will continue to "impact" the high-end market from three aspects: firstly, in 2021, more domestic brands will join the new track of foldable screens, and in 2022, domestic Android manufacturers will bring a richer flagship product portfolio and use their first mover advantage in foldable screens to grab more high-end market share from Apple; Secondly, launching self-developed chips to enhance differentiation, combining our own research and development capabilities and product characteristics to enhance the competitiveness of high-end products, and shifting from a marketing oriented approach to a high-end technology oriented approach; Thirdly, a full scenario solution centered around smartphones will pave the way for a lifestyle that combines digitization and intelligence.

Qi Yingnan believes that the active participation and promotion of Chinese manufacturers in foldable smartphones is already a new driving force in this field and will usher in a sales explosion.

Peter Richardson, Partner and Vice President of Research at Counterpoint Research, stated that the overall market share growth of foldable phones will still take time, and prices will remain relatively high in the medium term. By 2025, foldable phones will account for 40% -50% of the high-end market.