Samsung gains ground in China's foldable market, here's what helped

Samsung was the world’s first brand to launch a smartphone with a foldable display for the mass market. Since then, the company has been consistently making major technological advancements in the space and launching new foldable phones every year with significant upgrades. With that, it is the leader in the global foldable mobile market, but not in China.

Even though Chinese brands entered the foldable phone market at a later point, and devices from most of them aren’t as impressive as those from Samsung, they still have a much stronger foothold on the foldable mobile market in the country than the South Korean tech giant. So much so that in Q2 2025, Samsung wasn’t even in the top five list. Well, not anymore.

IDC has published an analysis on the foldable mobile market in China in Q3 2025. According to the research firm, Samsung had a 4.3% share in it, and that has given the South Korean tech giant the fifth and last position on the chart. While that’s not something the company can brag about, it is a significant improvement from Q2 2025, when Samsung wasn’t even in the top five.

Samsung managed to return to the top five with the help of the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It brings significant upgrades over its predecessor, especially with regard to thickness, which is something people have been asking for a long time. In the first place is Huawei, with a 68.9% market share. Honor, Vivo, and Oppo are in second, third, and fourth places, with 11.2%, 5%, and 4.9% market shares, respectively.

Samsung recently unveiled the brand’s first smartphone with a tri-folding display. The company is expected to launch it as the Galaxy Z TriFold on 5 December 2025, and make it available only in a few markets, including China. The upcoming phone should help Samsung gain a stronger foothold in the foldable mobile space in the country.