China's foldable smartphone market has seen steady growth for several years, thanks to improvements in flexible-screen technology and design innovations.
Here's the dilemma: foldables represented only 1.6 per cent of the overall smartphone market in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research.
The foldable smartphone market is expected to grow by more than 20 per cent annually through 2028, with shipments reaching 36 million units, according to Omdia's Smartphone Feature Forecast.
With other leading vendors set to launch similar products in the coming months, this new category is driving a fresh wave of growth in the foldable smartphone market."
Adding to the fanfare around book-style foldable phones is the evolving landscape around AI.
Living under a rock might come to mind on a visit to China, given the runaway popularity of foldable smartphones there. The year has been kind to Samsung, which has a hit on its hands with the Galaxy Z Fold8 thanks to its short and wide, passport-style design. Apple is rumoured to enter the foldable category in a few weeks' time. But foldable phones are already having their moment in China, and given the country's population, no company can afford to ignore the importance of the category or consider the race to be an easy one.
China's foldable smartphone market has seen steady growth for several years, thanks to improvements in flexible-screen technology and design innovations. Here's the dilemma: foldables represented only 1.6 per cent of the overall smartphone market in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. That appears to be a minuscule figure. Here's the other side of the coin: Sigmaintell Consulting says shipments of foldable screens in the Chinese market may rise from about 10 million units in 2025 to 12 million units this year. Yes, part of that shift will be down to Apple's upcoming product, which the company has not confirmed. But 10 million is still a substantial figure. As Mark Gurman points out in his report for Bloomberg, China alone bought more foldables than the rest of the world combined.
In China, it seems every other person has a foldable to show off. It's the land of social media, a gigantic local film industry and gamers – and, of course, even essential services have an impressive digital footprint. In China, the smartphone is king, and the country just can't get enough of it.
There are plenty of reasons for the burgeoning figures. Despite US sanctions, Huawei is delivering one popular foldable after another. It recently unveiled the Pura X View, a conventional slab smartphone but with an unusual 16:9.5 aspect-ratio display. What about a foldable? There's the Pura X Max, which reportedly has tackled the screen crease effectively. Oppo has its Find N6, where the crease is almost not there. Almost is the keyword. There are many other brands besides.
Samsung has had the run of the global market for many years. What Apple can do is not only bring competition but also popularise the foldable concept among more people, which will immensely help the category. Seeing a foldable from Apple may even interest more people in the Android ecosystem in buying one. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is also on the market, but Samsung does a better job in many ways. What Apple can demonstrate is how well foldable phones excel at productivity tasks as well as serving as a camera viewfinder. Given Apple's expertise on the camera front, one can only expect a zillion options on its foldable.
Even amid the ongoing global memory crunch, any new product from Apple gets the crowd moving, thanks to clever engineering and, of course, software chops.
The foldable smartphone market is expected to grow by more than 20 per cent annually through 2028, with shipments reaching 36 million units, according to Omdia's Smartphone Feature Forecast.
"In a year defined by supply chain constraints and market uncertainty, foldable smartphones stand out as the industry's most compelling growth story," said Zaker Li, principal analyst, in a statement. "Huawei pioneered this new wide-format design with the Pura X Max in May 2026, followed by Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 in August. With other leading vendors set to launch similar products in the coming months, this new category is driving a fresh wave of growth in the foldable smartphone market."
It leaves a question mark over the future of flip phones, because people seem willing to pay a premium for a larger screen size.
Adding to the fanfare around book-style foldable phones is the evolving landscape around AI. More and more new features are being introduced, and many of these are easier to experience on a larger screen.
There is plenty of opportunity for hardware research in this category, and Apple knows that well. If the global memory crunch can be navigated cleverly, the foldable phone category may prove to be a windfall for Apple. September will tell.
