The display is the main technology that defines usability and perceived quality of a smartphone. Foldable displays mark the biggest and most important design change since the emergence of the modern smartphone nearly 15 years ago.

The current pricing of foldable display smartphones remains high due to the smaller yield of the foldable displays in the manufacturing process, as well as complicated and expensive design.  Pricing is the biggest factor limiting foldable sales.

The main types of foldables are: Inward folded booklet (such as the Samsung Galaxy Fold), outward folded (such as Huawei Mate X) and flip fold (Motorola Razr, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip).



Samsung is the market leader in foldable smartphone sales, and is likely to remain so for the next two years.  The elephant in the room is Apple; when it launches its own foldable - likely in 2023 - it will capture a large share of the global foldable device market. Apple's foldable will undoubtedly be extremely expensive.

Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and others have limited time frame in which to bring down prices for foldables to help make them mainstream. Doing so will be essential in order to build up share and defend against Apple in this crucial growing market segment.

Clients of our Device Technologies (EDT) service can read more about foldable smartphones, including the newest report, Global Smartphone Foldable Display Forecasts: 2010 to 2026, here.