5G isn’t the only exciting technology keeping the entire mobile industry afloat. Excitement is also growing for foldable and clamshell phones, which analysts now expect to see huge growth over the next five years.
In a new foldable smartphone forecast, research firm IDC says it expects 21.4 million foldable devices to ship this year. This represents an increase of more than 50% compared to last year, when 14.2 million such devices were shipped.
By 2027, consumers worldwide will have purchased 48.1 million foldable devices, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.6%.
The race picks up
The smartphone market has been in freefall for some time. IDC says sales fell more than 11%. Other market analysts say there is a growing demand for used devices, mainly because they are cheaper, but also because for some consumers it is more environmentally friendly to buy devices. second hand.
Finally, people are happy to keep their current devices longer because the build quality has improved and the software is better optimized.
“The foldable phone market ended slightly higher than previous forecasts as consumers begin to embrace this new form factor,” said Anthony Scarsella, research director for mobile phones at IDC.
“A 10% decline in average selling price (ASP) helped the market grow by 75.5% in 2022 as foldable devices became more affordable in many markets.” With new vendors and models entering the race this year, we expect the foldable device market to be the only bright spot in 2023 with growth of 50.5%, while the total smartphone market will contract by 1.1%.”
Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, also added that the recent success of current foldable phones will only increase demand and bring new competitors into the market.
It’s clearly a booming format: “Foldable phones were the focus of Mobile World Congress this year, with vendors eager to showcase new designs and concept devices. With the smartphone market shrinking further from 11% last year, consumers need a new impetus to equip themselves with a product that will appeal to them. Foldable devices currently provide this “seduction factor” and indeed we believe that they will continue to make headlines and outperform mainstream smartphones over the next five years.