It was analyzed that the foldable smartphone market recorded rapid market growth last year, growing 309% year-on-year.

According to Omdia, global foldable smartphone shipments are expected to reach 11.5 million units by the end of 2021, the first time since their initial launch in 2019.

In addition, in 2021, annual shipments reached 9 million units, a 309% increase from the previous year, and 8 million of these foldable smartphones were shipped in the second half of 2021 alone.

Samsung Electronics, the largest OEM for foldable smartphones, has shipped over 10 million units and has over 88% of the foldable smartphone market.

According to Omdia's analysis, Samsung is focusing on the foldable smartphone market amid declining shipments of its flagship smartphones, such as the Galaxy S and Note series, and in terms of supply chain, it has a clear advantage in the foldable market as it owns Samsung Display, a foldable display manufacturer.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G, with 4.6 million units shipped, is the world's largest foldable smartphone, accounting for 52% of the foldable smartphone market in 2021. Samsung is expected to ship more than 3.5 million units in 2021 through hardware upgrades and price cuts.

Following Samsung, Huawei is expected to ship 900,000 units in 2021, accounting for 10% of the market.

Xiaomi also introduced the Mix Fold in 2021, but sales fell short of expectations, while Oppo threw its hat into the foldable smartphone market with the Find N, which was released in Q4 2021.

The global foldable smartphone market is expected to grow significantly this year, exceeding 14 million units compared to last year, and is expected to steadily grow to 61 million units annually by 2026, accounting for 3.6% of the entire smartphone market.