Samsung tops Q3 foldable market with 64% share: report

Samsung led global foldable phone shipments in Q3 2025 with a 64% market share, according to Counterpoint Research.

Huawei held 15%, Motorola had 7%, and Honor, Vivo, and Xiaomi followed with 4%, 4%, and 2%.

Foldable phone shipments rose 14% year-on-year in Q3, reaching a quarterly high and making up 2.5% of all smartphone shipments.

Counterpoint Research projects faster growth for the foldable market next year, driven by technical advances and more premium device launches.

There is also ongoing speculation about Apple entering the foldable phone market as early as 2026.

🔗 Source: Yonhap

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Samsung logged a 64% share of foldables in Q3 2025, lifted by Galaxy Z Fold7 (book-style that opens like a small tablet) and Z Flip7 (clamshell) which pushed shipments up 32% year over year versus Q3 2024 1.
Book-style phones are pulling demand, with foldables now at 2.5% of global smartphone shipments 1.
Growth hit 14% year over year, but high prices and thin use cases still hold back adoption versus conventional phones, while engineers juggle performance with thin designs 2.
For 2025, foldable Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) panel shipments are set to rise 1.6% at the component level, before an expected pickup after 2026 with Apple’s arrival 2.

Samsung Display (Samsung’s display-panel manufacturing subsidiary) is set to be Apple’s only foldable OLED panel supplier in 2026 with about 10 million units 3.
The move could benefit Samsung’s supply partners 3.
An Apple foldable iPhone in 2026 could kick off bigger growth after 2026, which broadens demand beyond today’s Android base and helps validate the category 2.
Materials makers of ultra-thin glass and protective layers plus tooling vendors expect foldable OLED displays to hit 124.6 million units by 2032 at 8.6% of the OLED market 2.
Improvements in ultra-thin glass and supporting films (durable polymer layers) are boosting durability 2.
Panels keep getting thinner while durability improves, and Omdia (a display-focused market research firm) expects faster growth after 2026 with Apple in the mix 2.