Counterpoint: HUAWEI leads global foldable market in Q1 2024, Samsung falls to 2nd!

Based on counterpoint's research, HUAWEI has taken the 1st spot for foldable sales in the first quarter of 2024.

File  photo: Mate X5

HUAWEI claims the top position in the foldable market for Q1 2024!

HUAWEI's sudden rise to rank 1 for foldables in the global market came as a surprise considering its sales in some areas of the world in recent years after the US made restrictions on access to Google services.

Counterpoint Research global chart for foldable in Q1 2024

Meanwhile, the Korean firm Samsung fell to 2nd place with a huge drop in sales by 42 percent when compared to its last year's performance in the same quarter.

On the other hand, HUAWEI achieved a growth of 257 percent since most part of the sales contributed in China after the phone maker introduced the Mate X5 last year. It seems the long-awaited transition to 5G connectivity has played a key role in increasing the interest of Chinese consumers in HUAWEI's foldable.

HONOR came in the 3rd spot in shipments and showed 460 percent growth. However, the most significant growth is seen from Motorola with a 1,473 percent improvement when compared to its last year's quarter 1 performance.

The HUAWEI Mate X5

Overall, sales of foldable devices climbed by 49 percent year over year. In contrast to HUAWEI, HONOR and Motorola grew mostly outside of China.

HONOR is currently enjoying a market share of 12 percent in the foldable area, up from 3 percent last year. The Honor Magic V2 was the most popular foldable phone in Western Europe in Q1 2024. Motorola's global foldable market share has risen to 11 percent, mainly due to the Razr series' great performance in North America.

In Q1 2024, "book-type" foldables accounted for 55 percent of global shipments, outpacing clamshell foldables for the first time since 2021. However, things may change later this year when Samsung unveils the Galaxy Z Flip6. HUAWEI is also rumored to be working on a cheaper clamshell-style foldable, while Xiaomi and HONOR will debut their first flip phones.

What do you guys think?

Source: Counterpoint