Samsung took the tech world by storm back in 2019 with the announcement of the Galaxy Fold. The company soon decided to remain in this segment, releasing foldable phones every year that were better than the predecessors and kept getting better. However, despite being the king of the foldable segment and the company that brought foldable phones to the mainstream, it appears that the crown is in jeopardy as Huawei is coming to dethrone the South Korean tech giant.
Samsung’s throne is in trouble as Huawei slowly catches up with heating competition
Based on a new report from Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), Samsung is on the verge of losing its number-one ranking in the global foldable smartphone market in the first quarter of 2024. Unsurprisingly, Samsung was the biggest foldable smartphone brand in Q4 2023, but Huawei and Honor also managed to catch up.
The global foldable smartphone market saw 23 different foldable phones shipped last year. Four out of the top ten in the last quarter of 2023 were from Samsung. Honor and Oppo had two phones on the list. Huawei and Xiaomi were also on the list. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 managed to be the best-selling foldable phone in the last quarter of 2023, and the Huawei Mate X4 was at the second. The rest of the devices included the Honor Magic VS2, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Oppo Find N3 Flip, taking the third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
Things are a bit different in Q1 of 2024, as well as Q2 of 2024, as Huawei is now expected to dethrone Samsung in the foldable segment. This will be done with the help of the upcoming Mate X5 as well as Pocket 2. Samsung will make a comeback in the second half of this year with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Z Flip 6, but things might be a bit too late at that time. As far as the global market is concerned, we are expected to see around 27 foldable phones come out this year.
There is no denying that Samsung is going to have some really great products for us later this year. However, the threat from Huawei is as real as it can get, and if Samsung ends up losing its position, it will lose its 4-year-long reign, and it might become difficult to take back. I hope it never comes to that and the company makes a true return to form later this year, but it is clearly a warning sign for the South Korean firm that the company needs to make some innovations or be forgotten.
