Foldable shipments fall due to pricey Samsungs

New stats from Counterpoint Research reveal that for the first time ever, global foldable shipments in Q3 were down year-on-year, following six consecutive quarters of growth.

The decline was largely attributed to Samsung. Counterpoint said Samsung's latest flagship foldable – the Galaxy Z Fold 6 (pictured) – has had a modest performance so far, while the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has struggled to match the sales of its predecessor.

As a result, Samsung shipments fell 21 percent in Q3 2023, and since it is the market leader when it comes to foldables, its lacklustre performance dragged the whole segment down with it.

Huawei is beginning to loom larger in Samsung's rear-view mirror. While its low-cost Nova Flip and eye-catching tri-fold phone, the Mate XT, were more experimental offerings and therefore didn't ship in high numbers, Counterpoint said its more mainstream Mate X5 and Pocket 2 remain popular, particularly in China.

Samsung also faces increasing competition in North America from Motorola, which offers the more wallet-friendly Razr range of clamshell foldables. And in Western Europe, Huawei's sub-brand Honor is chipping away at Samsung thanks to its Magic V series.

In its effort to deliver premium experiences, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold range attracts a premium price tag. To make matters worse, the prices are going up even as the underlying screen technology matures.

Reviewers of 2023's Galaxy Z Fold 5 (Z5) generally liked the experience but cited the high price as one of their chief gripes. Fast forward to reviews of this year's Z Fold 6 (Z6) and the major complaint is that it's even more expensive than the one that went before.

With a price of £1,800 for the entry-level Z6 and £2,100 for the range-topping model, it's a device for the well-heeled.

Furthermore, as evidenced by Motorola, this seems to be a Samsung problem, rather than industry-wide issue.

While Motorola's foldable Razr can't match Samsung for performance, it has well and truly got the better of it when it comes to price, with models available at the time of writing for the promotional price of £600.

"The global foldable market appears to have entered a transitionary phase where it is facing challenges as it progresses from a niche segment to the mainstream," said Jene Park, senior analyst at Counterpoint.

"User satisfaction is particularly high with book-type foldable devices, but the prohibitively high prices remain the biggest obstacle to mass adoption," he said. "If manufacturers give serious consideration to improving price accessibility, along with achieving further technological reliability and enhancing consumer perceptions, this phase can be overcome."

For that to happen, it seems that Samsung needs to confront the reality that no matter how slick a smartphone is, there is an upper limit to how much folding stuff people are willing to part with.