The global foldable smartphone market grew 49% YoY in the first quarter of 2024, its highest rate of increase over the past six quarters.According to the latest Counterpoint Research Foldable Smartphone Shipment Tracker, the increase was driven by a large shipment bump from Chinese OEMs, primarily Huawei.According to Counterpoint, Huawei’s transition to 5G in foldables was a large driver of its 257% year-over-year growth. Last year the company was making only LTE devices, while now 5G-enabled devices make up 84% of the company’s foldable shipments.Counterpoint notes that Huawei’s Mate X5 has been one of the best sellers in China’s foldable market for three consecutive quarters. The company also recently released its first clamshell 5G mode, the Pocket 2, which made a significant contribution to the company’s Q1 shipments.Huawei isn’t the only company contributing to all that growth. Honor and Motorola also achieved “substantial shipment growth in overseas markets.”Honor’s global foldable market share jumped from 3% to 12% in Q1 year-over-year, making it the third-largest player in the space. Those sales were driven by the Honor Magic V2, which was the most shipped foldable phone in Western Europe in Q1 2024.
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Motorola currently ranks fourth in sales thanks to the Razr 40, which has become the top foldable phone model in North America.Book-type foldable phones are also increasing in popularity. Shipments there exceeded sales of clamshell devices for the first time in the past 11 quarters.
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