Honor, a Chinese smartphone brand, has overtaken Samsung Electronics to become the top foldable handset maker in Western Europe, as reported by Counterpoint Research. This achievement marks Honor’s first time leading in this category during the second quarter of the year. Western Europe, the second-largest market for foldable phones after China, is highly competitive, with major players including Motorola, Oppo, OnePlus, and Google.
The growth in Honor’s foldable phone shipments has been remarkable. Following the launch of the Magic V2 outside China in September last year, the company saw a 455% increase in global shipments of foldable phones in the second quarter. This was the largest annual growth rate among all brands.
Honor is now preparing to launch the Magic V3 internationally, which was first introduced in China in July. The V3 is marketed as the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, with a folded thickness of just 9.8mm.
In contrast to Honor’s success in Western Europe, Huawei continues to lead globally in foldable handsets. According to another Counterpoint report, Huawei maintained its position as the largest foldable phone brand for the second consecutive quarter, driven by strong sales in China. In the second quarter, over half of all foldable smartphones shipped worldwide were sent to China, contributing to a 48% increase in global shipments compared to the previous year.
Samsung, previously the dominant player in the foldable handset market, is now facing heightened competition from Chinese manufacturers. These competitors are rapidly releasing new models and expanding their international presence. While Huawei focuses on the Chinese market, holding over 35% of the market share, Honor, Xiaomi, and Vivo have all introduced new foldable models to markets outside China this year.
Looking ahead, Samsung is expected to regain its leading position in the global foldable market in the third quarter with the launch of the Z6 Series. However, Counterpoint anticipates that the increased competition will likely result in a significant year-on-year decline in Samsung’s market share. Despite these challenges, Samsung remained the top vendor in the overall smartphone market in the second quarter, according to IDC.
