Samsung shipped 5.175 million foldable smartphones in Q3 2026 — 13% more than a year earlier, and captured 69% of the global market, its highest share since 2023. That dominance was powered almost entirely by one device: the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which accounted for 55% of Samsung’s foldable shipments.
It’s the company’s first wide-format foldable, and it’s already defining the category’s pivot. Global foldable shipments fell 2% year over year to more than 7.5 million units, but Samsung grew while everyone else shrank. Excluding Samsung, all other vendors’ combined foldable shipments dropped 24% YoY. Huawei slipped from 18% to 14% share.
Lenovo and Motorola together rose to 8%, helped by broader rollout of the Razr 70 series across multiple countries and sales channels. SAG, Smart Analytics Global, attributes the broader slowdown to ‘high prices and limited compelling use cases’, which continue to constrain mainstream adoption. Wide-format foldables now make up 45% of all foldable shipments, up sharply from previous quarters, and SAG expects that to hit 65% in Q4, driven by Apple’s iPhone Duo launch.
That same launch is expected to push Apple past Samsung as the world’s top foldable vendor in Q4. No pricing, release date, or regional availability details for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 appear in the report, only its outsized role in Samsung’s Q3 performance. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is confirmed as Samsung’s first wide-format foldable, and its success has already reshaped the competitive math.
SAG forecasts double-digit year-over-year growth for the global foldable market in Q4 2026, and sustained double-digit annual growth through 2027. Huawei’s decline is tied specifically to weak demand in China and cannibalization from its newly launched wide-slate Pura X View phone. Meanwhile, SAG notes that Samsung ‘outperformed the market, while most other vendors faced mounting challenges’.
The firm also says the Galaxy Z Fold 8 signals ‘initial success of Samsung’s first wide-format foldable smartphone’. And though the foldable market contracted slightly, SAG still sees strong momentum building behind the wide-format form factor, one that now accounts for nearly half of all shipments and is set to become the dominant shape in the category by year-end.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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