Samsung was the first to sell – or the first – with a foldable device. The original Galaxy Fold was launched back in 2019, although it was recalled before shipping due to several problems with the screen, but it started shipping later that year. Since then, almost every Android developer has jumped on the bandwagon and created a twist.
Technically, Royale beat Samsung to the punch with the Flexpai which was not a good device at all. And most of you probably forgot about it completely. Samsung gained an early lead in the folder market; This is due to the fact that Samsung has also developed many devices for folders, including displays. Ultra Thin Glass was developed by Samsung, and while it started selling to its competitors, it kept a lot to itself. This is not new, Samsung does this with their AMOLED displays. This is why Samsung devices usually have the best displays.
Now, fast forward 5 years. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 just launched alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6, among many other folds. And Samsung is starting to lose its edge. Recently, Tech Insights published an infographic showing the global component market share by OEM, and compared them year-over-year. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Samsung will lose its market share in 2024.
There are two companies that are giving Samsung a really good deal right now, that is Huawei and HONOR. Which is very surprising since Huawei made HONOR and sold it after the US banned Huawei, but that’s another story. Vivo is also becoming more competitive recently and is taking a good share of Samsung’s notebook market. However, Vivo’s market share remains the same in Q2 2024 vers Q2 2023.
Samsung is struggling in emerging markets
Five years have been reserved and some markets have already grown. In fact, Europe is down 29% year over year, which is impressive and not in a good way. Asia saw 91% year-on-year growth, Australia saw 109%, Africa saw 61% and the US at 39%. Samsung is in the top three in every market, and in a way number one in Asia, but they are in danger, while Huawei and OnePlus are catching up.
Remember, this is for Q2 of 2024, so before the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6 are even announced, let alone sold. And it probably won’t include the new Motorola Razrs, which came out in June, while Q2 ended on June 30.
You can take a look at the full infographic below, and on the other side we’ll discuss why Samsung’s lead is shrinking.
Why is Samsung struggling now?
There are two main reasons why Samsung is struggling, and they are related. First, Samsung is seeing more competition than it did at the start of the revolutionary revolution. Even Google and OnePlus jumped into the game, releasing their first devices in 2023. Another is, Samsung’s resistance to change. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Flip by Samsung have not changed much in the last 3 years, although folding is still a new category and expect big changes every year.
More competition is good, unless you’re Samsung
In the beginning, Samsung’s real competition was Huawei and HONOR. And surprise, surprise, they are not selling their equipment in North America. Nor does it start in Europe at the same time. Giving Samsung the ability to expand into North America and Europe and begin to dominate the folding market. What Samsung did.
Over the years, Samsung has made some changes to its Fold and Flip models, but since the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3, they’ve been getting more and more, while their competitors are making more changes. Xiaomi has just introduced a phone with a bigger battery than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 (which has had the same battery since the Galaxy Z Fold 3, which is smaller than the first two Samsung folds). Let’s not even start in front of the camera.
Consumers who want to bend now have more options than ever – even here in the US. And this is not going well for Samsung. He’s not even world number one anymore. Instead, it’s Huawei. A company that can’t sell phones in the US, can’t use Google services, and can’t use anyone else’s chipsets. That is very bad.
Samsung just adds updates, now
Let’s face it, Samsung’s foldables are pretty polished right now. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 feels more polished compared to the OnePlus Open, or the HONOR Magic V2 RSR, but there are things that could be changed here. Especially the features, cameras and battery size. Much that hasn’t changed in the past three generations. Samsung continues to make the Galaxy Z Fold a little bigger every year, and now it’s 22:9, making it a little taller than a smartphone, but for many it’s still too tall.
On the camera front, Samsung could do better than it used to. Samsung has a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 10-megapixel telephoto. The same cameras as the Galaxy Z Fold 4 from 2022. The cameras are good, don’t get me wrong, but when there is competition like the OnePlus Open and soon the HONOR Magic V3 that does much, much better for the same price or even less, it makes it difficult to defend Samsung. OnePlus Open was announced a year ago, and it will blow away the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in terms of image quality. When you pay almost $2,000 for a phone, you want more than just “good” cameras.
Another thing is the battery. And I know why Samsung is lagging behind here. It seems that they are afraid of repeating the controversy of Galaxy Note 7. It is also possible that this is the reason why the speed is so low. But come on Samsung, you have one of the smallest batteries on record. And one of the slowest batteries at that – Google somehow offers slow charging on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Americans miss out on the good stuff
As someone who reviews a lot of phones throughout the year, including several that aren’t available in the US, I can confidently say that we Americans are missing out. There are excellent folding devices such as Vivo XFold 3 Pro, HONOR Magic V3 (announced in China, going global at IFA next week), and Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, to name a few. Now, we get a little taste of this with the OnePlus Open, but the carrier refuses to sell it for some reason.
Why do Americans miss out on all these sweet treats? You can thank the government. Back in 2018, after years and even decades of threats, President Trump actually did it. He banned Huawei from selling anything in the US and working with American companies. As a result, Huawei was banned. They would no longer be able to work with Google on Android. Instead, they had to wait for AOSP to come out and use it, which meant they couldn’t use Google services even outside the US. They could no longer work with Qualcomm, whose chipsets powered many Huawei phones. Of course, they can use MediaTek or their Kirin chipsets, right? No. Because they were all based on the ARM design, which is American, they couldn’t do this anymore.
This felt like death for Huawei and HONOR at the time. Huawei decided to leave HONOR and find a new owner in order to succeed. In 2021, Huawei sold HONOR, and HONOR never looked back. Now, they are planning to launch the thinnest and most advanced foldable at IFA next week. However, we have already seen it since its launch in China earlier this summer.
Why did the government ban Huawei? Because they want to be the only ones spying on Americans. That’s why they’re trying to ban TikTok now. Like the TikTok ban, Huawei’s ban hurt Americans more than it helped. Although it helped Samsung and Apple a little.
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