Foldables are growing in popularity – market research firm Omdia forecasts that foldable display shipments will rise by an impressive 44% this year, after a 12% decline last year.
Note that the forecast is specifically for the inner displays of foldables and not the foldables themselves – there may be some delay between the time the display component is shipped and when the final product is shipped.
According to the forecast, 29 million foldable displays will be shipped this year. As noted above, this might not translate 1:1 into the number of foldable phones shipped, but it’s clear that 2026 will be a good year for the form factor.
Here’s another interesting stat – displays for wide foldables will make up 44% of the total display shipments this year. In other words, the newest form factor will make up almost half the market share (the other two form factors being the bigger, squarer book-style foldable and the smaller flip-style).
This is in large part being driven by the popularity of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 and the Apple iPhone Duo. This is great news for Samsung Display, which builds the panels for both models – Omdia forecasts it will have a commanding 66% market share, while other display manufacturers (BOE, China Star, Tianma and Visionox) will see their shares shrink.
According to the analysts, demand for foldables is weak in China right now. However, more Chinese are looking to get into the wide foldable market, so things will heat up. Huawei pioneered the form factor, but it seems that other makers needed some convincing that it will be successful.
Finally, the vast majority of foldable displays manufactured this year will be the LTPO type – these are more expensive, but their fine-grained control over refresh rate makes them preferred over the LTPS kind. And since foldables are already quite expensive, you may as well equip them with the best.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8
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