The sales of folding phone 618 have doubled, with an estimated sales volume of 56 million units in China this year

On June 2nd, a reporter from First Financial News learned that in the first round of promotions on June 18th this year, JD.com and Suning.com achieved a doubling in sales or sales of foldable phones. Analysts believe that the sales of foldable smartphones in China are expected to increase by 78% to 5 million units year-on-year in 2023, or even exceed 110% to 6 million units year-on-year, accounting for approximately 2% of the overall smartphone sales in China.

From 8:00 pm on May 31 to 24:00 on June 1, the trading volume of JD's foldable screen phones (referred to as foldable phones) increased by over 200% year-on-year, making foldable phones one of the hotspots in mobile phone consumption. During the first round of outbreak of Suning's 618, sales of foldable screen smartphones increased by 150% year-on-year. But the two platforms did not disclose specific sales data.

At present, the overall demand in the global smartphone market is weak. According to data from CINNOR Research, the global smartphone shipment volume in the first quarter of 2023 was approximately 270 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 12.8%, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of negative growth.

Folding screen smartphones benefit from form innovation, maintaining a counter trend growth trend against the overall sluggish demand in the smartphone market, and are expected to become a hot spot in the mid year promotion season of '6.18'. "Zhou Hua, Chief Analyst of CINNOR Research, told a reporter from First Financial that the sales of folding screen smartphones in the Chinese market may reach 5 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 78%.

After several years of development, the form and technology of foldable screen phones have become mature. Zhou Hua said that Huawei's MateX3, released in March this year, achieved weight reduction for foldable screen phones. Motorola released the motorazr40 series on June 1st, lowering the price of small foldable screen phones to the 4000 yuan level and expanding market capacity.

The development direction of foldable screen smartphones in 2023 will focus on polishing product strength and continuously reducing costs, developing more suitable models for the mid to high end market, and subtracting prices, functions, and weight will still be the mainstream choice for manufacturers, "Zhou Hua said.

According to the JD Mobile 618 racing chart, Samsung ZFlip4 ranks first in the top selling items of its foldable screen phone Top5 as of 24:00 on June 1, followed closely by Honor MagicVs and Huawei PocketS, while vivo XFlip and Huawei MateX3 are also more popular.

A reporter from First Finance noticed that among the best-selling models of JD's foldable screen phones, the price of small foldable phones such as Samsung, Huawei, and vivo has dropped to within 5500 or 6000 yuan, while the price of previous generation small foldable phones such as Samsung and Moto has dropped to within 5000 yuan; The price of left and right folding phones such as Honor, OPPO, and Xiaomi has dropped to within 8000 yuan; The price range of high-end folding phones from Samsung and Huawei ranges from 15000 to 21000 yuan. Moto's four to five thousand yuan small folding new product is still on pre-sale.

It is expected that the sales of folding smartphones in China will reach 6 million units in 2023, with a year-on-year growth of over 110%, accounting for about 2% of the overall smartphone sales in China. "Chen Jun, Deputy General Manager and Chief Analyst of Sigmantell, told a reporter from First Financial that it is still too early for folding phones to become the focus of attention on June 18th this year. He believes that there are not many products for this year's "6.18" foldable screen phones, and the focus of competition is still on traditional form phones. Moto released a new product through "6.18" in the hope of achieving sales through "6.18".

At present, the price reduction of folding phones for top brands in South Korea and China is not too radical, mainly considering cost and external economic environment. If it is reduced to a large scale of 3000 to 4000 yuan, there will still be pressure this year and next year. Chen Jun believes that although the cost of folding phone supply chain has decreased significantly compared to before, terminal manufacturers need to consider product layout, supply chain maturity, and company profitability. So, the large-scale decline of foldable mobile phones to 3000 to 4000 yuan may be difficult until 2025, this year and next year.