New folding screen phones are frequently innovating the interactive experience, and shipments have grown rapidly in recent years.
According to data disclosed by display supply chain research company Display Supply Chain Consultant, in Q1 2024, Huawei's folding screen phone shipments increased 105% year-on-year, with a market share of 40%, surpassing Samsung and ranking first in the world.
In 2023, Huawei phones made a strong comeback and released series phones such as the Mate 60 and Mate X5. Due to the core competitiveness of these phones, shipments of Huawei phones are also recovering strongly.
According to DSCC's latest folding/curling display shipments and technical reports, foldable smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased 33% year-on-year to 4.2 million units, the fourth highest in history. Although sales of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 fell short of expectations, they led the market this quarter. Both Huawei and Honor gained market share in the fourth quarter of 2023. A total of 23 different foldable phone models were shipped in the fourth quarter.
Of the 10 best-selling models, Samsung accounts for 4 models, Honor and Oppo each account for 2 models, and Huawei and Xiaomi each account for 1 model. DSCC expects that in the first quarter of 2024, Huawei will surpass Samsung in the folding screen phone market share for the first time.
According to the IDC report, in 2023, China's folding screen phone market shipped about 7.07 million units, up 114.5% year on year. Since the first product was launched in 2019, China's folding screen phone market has been growing by more than 100% year on year for 4 consecutive years. Specifically, in 2023, the top five manufacturers in the folding screen phone market in China were Huawei, OPPO, Honor, Samsung, and Vivo, with market shares of 37.4%, 18.3%, 17.7%, 11%, and 9.7% respectively.
Looking ahead to 2024, CINNO Research said that folding screen smartphones benefit from advantages such as form innovation, unique user experience, and cost reduction, and will continue to grow against the trend in an environment where overall demand in the smartphone market is sluggish. It is estimated that in 2024, sales of folding screen smartphones in the Chinese market will reach 9.6 million units, an increase of 41% over the previous year.
Folding screen-related concept companies:
BOE Precision Electronics (00710): Previously, the Huawei P20 Pro and Huawei P30 series phones used BOE screens. According to some sources, the flexible 0LED display on the Huawei Pocket 2, Huawei's small folding phone, will also be jointly supplied by domestic panel vendors BOE A and Vicino.
Xinli International (00732): Xinli International Co., Ltd. is an investment holding company mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of LCD products. The company operates through two divisions. The LCD Products Division is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of LCD products and touch screen products. The Consumer Electronics Division is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of consumer electronics products. The company recently announced that the Group's unaudited consolidated net turnover in January 2024 was approximately HK$1,637 million, an increase of approximately 84.6% over the previous year.