Huawei and Oppo enters foldable phone competition

Smartphone makers started this year with a new adventure in the foldable phone market. But a market researcher revealed that Huawei and Oppo began 2023 in an edgy competition in China to reign supreme in the foldable phone segment.

According to Counterpoint Research, Huawei’s foldable phone market accounted for 27%, winning the first spot. However, Oppo is following in the second spot with the same 27% market share. Compared to Huawei, Oppo falls short to achieve first place in the foldable phone race. Meanwhile, Samsung posted a 26% market share for the third rank in Q1 2023.

Foldable Phone Market:

The data compiled by the researcher revealed that the global foldable smartphone market increased 64% YoY in Q1 2023, based on sell-in volume, to reach 2.5 million units.

The foldable market rose amid a 14.2% year-on-year decline in the overall global smartphone market during the same period. Foldable smartphone markets in almost all major regions, including China, North America, and Western Europe showed strong growth in Q1 2023.

In this record, the Chinese smartphone market declined by about 8% YoY in Q1 2023. But the domestic foldable market continued to grow, surging 117% YoY to 1.08 million units.

“In China, new foldable products such as the OPPO N2 and N2 Flip had grand releases. These big launch events constantly pique the market’s interest. Consequently, Chinese consumers have become more familiar with foldable products compared to other regions.” said Research Analyst Woojin Son.