Samsung is one of the early manufacturers of foldable devices and is also a company that made the form factor mainstream. China was initially one of the big markets for the company’s foldable devices. However, the recent foldables from the company are facing intense competition from the Chinese OEMs as revealed by a latest report from IDC.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

Many Chinese OEMs started working on the form factor relatively later and it gave Samsung an edge in the experience it had already gathered. However, foldable from Huawei, Honor, Vivo, and Oppo are now reportedly outperforming Samsung’s offerings in market share. Surely, the Chinese OEMs have managed to overcome a lot of problems with the form factor and have also developed reasonably good software experience for their users, but is it enough to replace the South Korean company so quickly?

Just a couple of years ago, Samsung used to hold a 30% quarterly market share of foldable phones in China, which is the home country of most other foldable smartphone manufacturers. But in Q1 2024, the company is ranking in the fifth position in the country in terms of its foldable market share.

Huawei ranks on top with a market share of a whopping 44.1% in its home country. Honor comes in the second position with a market share of 26.7%. The third and fourth positions are occupied by Vivo and Oppo with 12.6% and 9% market share. Just last year, Samsung’s market share was at 11%.

Reportedly, this decline in market share was not only caused by Chinese OEMs catching up with Samsung in product quality, but also by a shift in consumer preferences. Amidst US trade restrictions preventing Huawei and other companies from accessing overseas technologies, buyers in the country now seem to prefer products from Chinese manufacturers.

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