In Q1 2022, Samsung led the foldable smartphone market with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3, leading the charge.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed Samsung’s progress in this growing market segment in the previous months or years, but Huawei’s presence in the foldable market has grown in the first three months of 2022.

In 2022, 2.22 million foldable phones were shipped, representing a 571% year-over-year increase. Shipments of foldable panels, phone production, and phone shipments doubled compared to 2021. (DSCC via @DSCCRoss)

The P50 Pocket led Huawei to success. It is a foldable flip phone with a form factor similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but it lacks many of the features of the Flip 3.

Huawei managed to ship enough P50 Pockets in Q1 2022 to cover almost 20% of all foldable smartphone shipments despite being more expensive than Samsung's flip phone.

While Huawei shipped nearly as many P50 Pockets as Samsung did Z Fold 3s, the vast majority were likely recorded in China, where Huawei is still relevant.

With a 51% share of the worldwide shipments, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 led the foldable phone market. With a 20% share, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 was the 2nd most shipped foldable phone.

The flip form factor currently dominates the foldable phone market, but that could change throughout the rest of 2022.

Samsung is expecting the Galaxy Z Fold 4 to grow faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 later this year, according to market analysts.

In other words, Samsung's confidence in this matter may indicate that the company plans to lower the Galaxy Z Fold 4's launch prices significantly compared to previous models. Meanwhile, it will democratize the book-like foldable phone form factor.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 should be announced at Unpacked around August-September, but Samsung has not yet sent out invitations. Samsung is planning incremental upgrades to the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4. Stay tuned for more updates.