The smartphone market is recovering, and the high-end market is heating up
After several years of downturn, the smartphone market has finally ushered in the dawn of recovery in 2023. According to authoritative IDC, China's smartphone market shipped about 73.63 million units in the fourth quarter of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%, achieving the first rebound after 10 consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline. Although the growth rate is still moderate, this is undoubtedly an important signal that the industry has come out of the trough and regained its upward trend.
It is worth noting that the shipments of the high-end smartphone market, which is slowly recovering in the overall market, have shown a good trend of rising against the trend. According to the data, the proportion of shipments of high-end models priced at more than $600 will continue to increase in 2023, and this trend is expected to continue in the future. The recovery of the high-end market is mainly due to consumers' pursuit of features such as large screens, long voyages and strong performance, and folding screen phones are the best choice to meet this demand.
Shipments of folding screen mobile phones continued to grow at a high rate, and the penetration rate continued to increase
It is precisely with the innovative form and excellent experience that the folding screen mobile phone is unrivaled in the high-end market. According to IDC data, China's folding screen mobile phone market will ship about 7.007 million units in 2023, a significant increase of 114.5% year-on-year, and a year-on-year growth rate of more than 100% for four consecutive years. This growth trend is encouraging, and folding screen phones are penetrating into the high-end consumer group at an astonishing rate.
The main reason for this phenomenon is that Android manufacturers and the upstream supply chain attach importance to and invest in folding screen technology. The continuous improvement of the hardware level, the optimization and improvement of the software system, and the further reduction of the price have made the overall experience of folding screen mobile phones more excellent, thus attracting the favor of more consumers. Data shows that in 2023, the market share of high-priced folding screen phones above $1,000 has dropped from 81% to 66.5%, and the price drop will undoubtedly further expand the audience of this product.
Differences in product forms lead to differentiation of consumer preferences
Among the two mainstream forms of folding screen mobile phones, the "large" folding screen products with horizontal folding have always been more popular with Chinese consumers. IDC data shows that in 2023, the share of cross-folded products in the domestic market will be as high as 68.1%, a year-on-year increase of 10.4 percentage points. This data shows the desire of domestic consumers for a large-screen experience.
Although the price of vertically folded "small" folding screen products is relatively cheap, the gap between them and ordinary straight phones in terms of user experience is still relatively obvious, and there is a lack of necessary use scenarios. Therefore, in addition to the convenience of carrying, this form is temporarily difficult to attract mass consumer groups. For high-end business people, the importance of horizontal folding products in mobile office scenarios is increasing day by day, and they pay relatively little attention to the price, and are more willing to choose large-scale folding screen products with top-of-the-line configurations.
Huawei stands out with the Mate X5 series, with a market share of 37.4%
In the domestic folding screen mobile phone market in 2023, Huawei can be said to be the biggest winner. With the strong performance of the Mate X5 series, Huawei firmly occupies the first position in the market, with a market share of 37.4%. Behind this data, the Mate X5 series has been in a hot state of increasing prices and exceeding supply since its launch.
The reason why Huawei is unique in this segment is largely due to its investment and innovation capabilities in the field of folding screen technology. Whether it is horizontal inward folding, horizontal outward folding, or vertical folding, Huawei is a pioneer and leader in each technical solution. This technological leadership has won Huawei a large number of loyal user groups and established its dominance in the domestic folding screen market.
Honor and OPPO followed, and Samsung's domestic market share declined
After Huawei, Honor and OPPO followed with 15.54% and 11.48% market shares, respectively, ranking second and third in the domestic folding screen mobile phone market in the fourth quarter of 2023. Both manufacturers are intensively releasing new products in 2023 and adopting the tactics of machine sea to seize market share.
Samsung, the former leader in the folding screen market, has declined in China. According to the data, Samsung's market share in the domestic folding screen handfield in the fourth quarter of 2023 is 15.23%, which is only slightly higher than Honor. Globally, Samsung still occupies an absolute dominance of 66% in the folding screen market, but this share has fallen by 17 percentage points compared with 2022. The fierce competition in the domestic market and the rise of local brands have had a certain impact on Samsung's market position.
Xiaomi and vivo are temporarily lagging behind, but there is still a chance to overtake them in the future
In the domestic folding screen mobile phone market in the fourth quarter of 2023, Xiaomi and vivo performed relatively poorly. Xiaomi even fell out of the top five at one point, while Vivo was only in fifth place with a market share of 4.02%. These two manufacturers have made a relatively late effort in the field of folding screens, and the product line needs to be further enriched, and there is still an opportunity to make a comeback in this track in the future.
After several years of development, the domestic folding screen mobile phone market has begun to emerge. Huawei and Samsung, the two old powerhouses, have the upper hand with their technological innovation capabilities and global influence, while emerging brands such as Honor and OPPO have risen rapidly through machine tactics and cost-effective advantages. With the increasing maturity of folding screen technology and the continuous improvement of consumer awareness, the competition pattern of this track will undergo more changes, and the industry reshuffle will become more and more intense.