1 day Ago By David Richards
Samsung who pioneered the foldable smartphone market appears to have taken a massive hit in the foldable market in 2024, while Motorola with their Razr foldable have recorded record growth according to a new research study from Counterpoint Research. It was only a week ago that we exclusively reported that according to IDC research Motorola had grown sale overall smartphone sales last year by over 100% with Samsung only managing a 1% rise on significantly larger volumes. Now Counterpoint is claiming that Samsung sales have fallen 33% while Motorola sales of their foldable Razr has risen 253%, also up 13% is Google sales of their Pixel 9 foldable, Oppo foldable sales were down 72%.
Overall global foldable smartphone shipments grew a modest 2.9% YoY in 2024, mainly held back by Samsung’s weaker Q4 and Oppo’s production cuts of more affordable foldable smartphones. Despite certain brands like Huawei, Motorola, Honor, and Xiaomi performing well, the market as a whole faced many challenges, according to Counterpoint.
According to Counterpoint, 2025 is forecasted to deliver single-digit negative growth for foldables a first for the category. The good news is the category is not peaking, “rather it is consolidating before an anticipated strong rebound in 2026” claim Counterpoint analysts. That turnaround is expected to be spurred by Apple’s entry into the foldable market and renewed momentum for clamshell designs, with supply chain data signalling mid-double-digit YoY panel procurement growth for 2026.
As for 2025 the is expected to be even tougher, with Counterpoint forecasting single-digit negative growth for the market. Paris Hilton models Motorola Razr 50 Ultra 5G. Senior Analyst Jene Park said, “I don’t see any 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.
” Counterpoint Research’s latest Foldable and Rollable Display Shipment and Technology Report supports their growth view for 2026 with the forecast of a mid-double-digit YoY growth in panel procurement a key indicator. “The supply chain is telling us foldable order books are filling up further out,” said Research Director Calvin Lee. “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.”.
