5G isn’t the only exciting technology keeping the entire mobile industry afloat, and there’s also growing interest in foldable and flip phones, where analysts expect massive growth over the next five years.
In the new prediction on the subject of submission smartphones, analyst firm IDC says it expects 21.4 million devices to ship this year. This is more than 50% more than last year, when 14.2 million such units were sold.
By 2027, the world will buy 48.1 million foldable devices, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.6% over five years.
Heating up the race
The smartphone market has been in decline for some time, with IDC saying sales are down more than 11%. Other market analysts say there is a growing demand for used appliances, mainly because they are cheaper, and other consumers believe that buying used appliances is more environmentally friendly.
Finally, people are more likely to keep their current devices for longer because the build quality has improved and the software is more optimized.
“The foldable phone market has ended slightly higher than previously anticipated as consumers begin to embrace the new form factor,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager, Mobile Phones at IDC.
“The 10% drop in ASP (Average Selling Price) helped the market grow 75.5% in 2022 as foldable devices became more affordable in many markets. With new vendors and models joining the race this year, we expect the foldable market to be the biggest single bright spot in 2023 with an increase of 50.5%, while the overall smartphone market shrinks by 1.1%.
Nabila Popal, Director of Research for the IDC Worldwide Tracker team, also added that the recent success of current foldable phones will only mean more demand and new market entries.
This is, of course, a new format: “Foldable devices were the focus of this year’s Mobile World Congress as vendors eagerly showed off new models and concept devices. With the smartphone market down more than 11% last year, consumers need new motivation to go out and upgrade to something that can wow them. Foldable devices currently bring that “wow factor” and I believe they will continue to make more headlines and outperform smartphones that are not foldable over the next five years.”