Counterpoint: Foldables market declines in Q3, Samsung lead shrinks

The global foldable smartphone market saw its first decline since analysts started tracking the segment. Total shipments went down 1% year over year, and while Samsung remained on top, its market share significantly shrank despite the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 flagships.

Xiaomi, Motorola, Honor, and Huawei were the big winners in the past three months. All of them saw massive shipment increases compared to the same period 12 months ago.

The report reveals that Samsung saw modest sales of the Galaxy Z Fold6, while the Flip6 failed to match the sales numbers of its predecessor from last year. The company is facing strong competition from Motorola, as the company launched sub-$1000 Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra, as well as Honor and its ultra-thin Magic V3.

Xiaomi recorded the highest YoY shipment increase of all makers in the segment, as the company finally launched a foldable outside China: the Mix Flip.

Huawei's growth in shipments comes primarily from China, where the company continued to sell the Mate X5 and the clamshell Pocket 2. The recently launched, fairly affordable Nova Flip and the tri-fold Mate XT Ultimate were also extremely popular at home but are still absent from the international scene.

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