Market Leadership Shifts in Early 2026

Book-style devices are currently taking over the foldable segment, representing 69% of foldable shipments in H1 2026. Conversely, flip phone (clamshell) foldable shipments dropped 47% year-over-year. Overall foldable shipments reached 5.1 million units in the first half of the year, a decline of over 20% year-over-year.

Conflicting Full-Year Forecasts

While Omdia tracks Samsung in second place for H1 2026, Counterpoint Research projects a different outlook for the full calendar year. Counterpoint expects global foldable smartphone shipments to grow 21% year-over-year in 2026, with Samsung projected to maintain market leadership at a 32% share. This represents a decline from the 64% market share Counterpoint estimated Samsung held in Q3 2025. Counterpoint also forecasts that Apple will capture a 25% share in its first year entering the foldable segment, followed by Huawei at 24%.

Long-Term Foldable Growth

Looking ahead, Omdia reports that the global foldable smartphone market is set to grow by more than 20% annually through 2028, totaling around 36 million units. Despite this steady expansion, foldables are expected to remain a very small part of the broader industry. By 2030, foldable devices will likely account for less than 3% of total global smartphone shipments, reaching approximately 45 million units.