International foldable smartphone shipments barely registered progress by way of 2024, closing the 12 months with a tepid 2.9% annual progress. Although analysis agency Counterpoint doesn’t give actual cargo figures, Worldwide Information Company (IDC) pegs this quantity at round 25 million items, whereas TrendForce suggests 17.7 million foldable telephones had been shipped worldwide in a interval of twelve months. There isn’t a straightforward technique to say this — these are disappointing numbers, for 2 causes.
The Vivo X Fold3 Professional foldable builds with flagship specs and a Zeiss optimised digital camera. (Vishal Mathur/ HT Picture)
However there could also be a silver lining. “At the moment, this doesn’t look like a market that is plateauing – it looks like a market that is about to transform. And that requires a lot of planning, hence the slight pullback this year,” notes Calvin Lee, Analysis Director at Counterpoint Analysis. Regardless of pleasure and conversations round them, foldable telephones barely determine, amongst 1.23 billion smartphone shipments in the identical interval, in response to Counterpoint’s personal numbers. Secondly, virtually all Android telephone makers have at the least one foldable telephone of their respective product portfolios, however that basically hasn’t translated into gross sales. Counterpoint knowledge estimates that the 4 quarters making up 2025 will convey extra ache for foldable telephone gross sales, forecasting single-digit detrimental numbers.
The important thing to the foldable telephone area discovering a spark would maybe be Apple introducing a foldable type issue — although they haven’t detailed any plans as but, expectations are there could also be a foldable iPhone sooner or later in 2026. That is one thing Counterpoint’s Senior Analyst Jene Park, alludes to.
“I don’t see many positives this year and we are actually expecting negative growth for the segment, which will be a first. But it is definitely not a sign of the market peaking; rather it is a sign of regrouping before 2026, which is expected to be exciting and rejuvenating for the segment with the entry of Apple and a slew of clamshells,” says Park.
A major cause for this can be value, usually pushed by forex variations — Samsung’s twin strategy lists the Galaxy Z Fold6 ( ₹1,64,999 onwards) and the Galaxy Z Flip6 ( ₹1,21,999 onwards), whereas the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold (round ₹1,62,999), each charging prime cash for the foldable telephone expertise. The Vivo X Fold3 Professional priced round ₹1,59,999 is in the identical ballpark, whereas the OnePlus Open (round ₹1,39,999 onwards) might appeal to consumers looking for higher worth. Maybe OnePlus had some extent, after they didn’t launch an up to date foldable, following this 2023 launch.
The current era of Android foldables aren’t missing on efficiency, and generally, construct with flagship specs. Samsung continues to make use of specifically customised Qualcomm Snapdragon chips on its foldable, to drive the Galaxy AI suite’s usability. The Vivo X Fold 3 Professional, when it was launched a 12 months in the past, arrived with the then newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
Amplified by the pricing side, is an absence of readability on longevity of foldable screens. There have been cases of screens getting broken or creating cracks, even with out tough utilization or bodily affect. Repairs, if not lined below guarantee, are typically expensive. It could take time for robustness to turn into an overarching fixture for these telephones.
Moreover, the app pushed expertise for foldable telephones nonetheless doesn’t add a lot by way of new performance, and sometimes really feel akin to stretched variations of the identical app as used on different telephones. There have been makes an attempt to alter that, with OnePlus’ Canvas and Samsung’s DeX mode, however they’re nonetheless restricted by way of general scope.
Within the Pixel 9 Professional Fold assessment, for example, we had famous this — “There are advantages that stem from stock Android, yet at the same time, there is a definite argument Google could have done more to extend multi-tasking capabilities (so far, only two apps, side by side)—how more than one app can use the screen space. Our perspective comes from the flexible OnePlus’ Open Canvas and quite how neatly Samsung’s One UI manages more than two apps.” Software program, and strong {hardware} might should preserve tempo with flagship specs, if foldables are to really succeed.