There’s been a lot of hype around the foldable segment of the smartphone industry which currently sees Samsung as the the dominant brand.
While the South Korean company has cornered the market (for now) this is largely because they have no meaningful competition. While the likes of Google and OPPO have both launched marginally successful foldables in various parts of the world, no one brand has enough popularity and brand capital to become a real competitor to Samsung.
With rumours of Apple releasing a foldable device in the coming years, more and more OEMs are getting into the game and releasing their folding phones in regions outside of China.
The most recent manufacturer to announce their intention to bring their foldables to more markets is HONOR. The former Huawei sub-brand has been hard work to redefine its image and reposition itself since its split from the embattled Chinese tech giant. This has included moving away from their youthful, mid-range focus to offering a wider range of devices including much-praised flagship handsets such as the HONOR Magic 5 series.
At a recent launch in China, HONOR unveiled their third foldable phone, the HONOR Magic V2. Hailed as the slimmest folding phone in the world – the device is only 9.9mm thick when folded closed – it’s clear that HONOR is looking to show the world that it’s a serious player not to be taken for granted.
The company recently launched its HONOR 90 handset for the MEA region at a launch event in Dubai. At a media roundtable after the event, HONOR MEA President, Daniel Wang, revealed to South African media that the brand intended to bring the HONOR Magic V2, and other devices such as tablets, watches, and more, to the country.
Declaring South Africa as the second largest country in the MEA region for HONOR in terms of market size and importance, Wang said: “It’s very important that we introduce this product (the HONOR Magic V2) to the country.” Wang also confirmed that HONOR would showcase the Magic V2 at MWC 2024.
“HONOR not only have this Fold, we still have the Flip but next year,” said Wang seemingly confirming that HONOR was looking to expand its foldable portfolio beyond the existing book-fold style Magic V series by launching a flip fold handset.
No further information regarding the name or launch date of the HONOR flip fold was shared.
While the foldable phone portion of the smartphone market makes up less than 2% of the smartphone market sold, it’s the flip style foldables that have captured the majority of the public’s attention, at least according to Samsung who has previously claimed that 70% of their Galaxy Z series foldables sold in 2021, were Galaxy Z Flip 3 handsets.
However, according to Counterpoint Research, 49% of people they surveyed ranked the flip-type foldable at the top, followed by the book-type foldable.
Should HONOR launch its flip fold handset globally, it could position the brand to be the first serious challenger to Samsung’s dominance over the emerging foldable phone segment as no other major OEM with GMS has launched both a book-style fold and a flip fold globally.
The foldable segment is expected to reach a market value of $42 billion in 2027 with shipments expected to reach 48.1 million units, according to IDC.
Increased growth and interest in foldables – the global foldable smartphone market increased 64% YoY in Q1 2023, based on sell-in volume, to reach 2.5 million units – is largely driven by the Chinese market. Research Analyst Woojin Son said, “In China, new foldable products such as the OPPO N2 and N2 Flip had grand releases. These big launch events constantly pique the market’s interest. Consequently, Chinese consumers have become more familiar with foldable products compared to other regions.”
