Samsung's Foldable Lead Is Shrinking Fast as Apple Circles

For five years, Samsung owned the foldable phone market the way Apple once owned the smartphone market. It launched the Galaxy Fold in 2019, stumbled through a rocky first generation, then steadily improved the hardware until foldables went from novelty to legitimately useful. By 2023, Samsung was selling roughly 80% of all foldable phones worldwide. That kind of dominance usually invites complacency. Instead, it invited competitors. The numbers tell the story. Samsung's share of global foldable shipments dropped below 50% in early 2024, according to industry tracking firms, and analysts expect it to slide further as Chinese manufacturers flood their home market with cheaper, thinner, and sometimes genuinely clever designs. Honor's Magic V2 is thinner than a Galaxy Z Fold. Huawei's Mate X series, despite US sanctions gumming up its software, still moves serious volume in China. Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo all have foldables on shelves now. The category Samsung invented is no longer Samsung's alone. Here's where it gets interesting for American buyers. Most of those Chinese foldables never officially reach US shores, so Samsung's real problem isn't losing your business today. It's losing the narrative. For years, "foldable phone" and "Samsung" were basically synonyms in the US. That's changing as reviewers and tech enthusiasts openly compare Chinese designs and ask why Samsung's hardware costs $1,800 while competitors offer slimmer builds for less. When the conversation shifts, prices eventually follow. Then there's Apple. The company has been rumored to be working on a foldable iPhone for years, and the rumors are finally getting specific. Multiple supply chain reports now point to a foldable iPhone arriving as early as 2026, possibly a clamshell design similar to the Galaxy Z Flip. Apple has a habit of entering categories late and then dominating them — see smartwatches, wireless earbuds, and tablets. If Apple ships a foldable iPhone, it won't just compete with Samsung. It could reset consumer expectations overnight, the way the original iPhone did to BlackBerry. Samsung clearly sees the threat. The company has been pushing foldables into its mid-range lineup, teasing rollable displays, and emphasizing durability improvements like better hinges and water resistance. It's also leaning hard on software features that Apple can't match yet, like DeX mode and multitasking tricks built for the bigger inner screen. That's smart. Hardware gets copied. Ecosystems are harder to clone. But Samsung faces a classic problem: it's now the incumbent defending against both cheaper rivals abroad and a premium rival at home. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 launched at $1,899, and while trade-in deals soften the blow, that's still a luxury purchase for most households. Meanwhile, the average American is already stretched thin on monthly bills. A foldable phone is not a need. It's a want with a premium attached. What should you actually do with all this? If you're curious about foldables, waiting is probably your friend. Competition almost always pushes prices down and quality up. The foldable you buy in 2026 will likely be thinner, tougher, and cheaper than anything available now. If you already own a foldable and love it, great — but don't feel pressured to upgrade every cycle. The improvements are real but incremental. The bigger picture is that foldables are finally becoming a real market instead of a Samsung monopoly. That's good news for your wallet, even if it takes a couple more years to show up at the register. Our take: Samsung deserves credit for dragging foldables into the mainstream, but monopolies never last. With Apple looming and Chinese brands pushing hard, the next two years should bring better devices at better prices. If you can hold off on upgrading, your patience will likely pay off.