Foldables, while growing in popularity, remain a very niche space in the global smartphone market. Specifically, Counterpoint’s data says that just 2% of the global smartphone market is made up of foldables, which is an incredibly small number considering Samsung has been making well-made phones that you can fold in half for 7 years.
Samsung Controls the Market for Now: With that said, Samsung controls the largest share of foldable market, accounting for eight of the top 10 most popular foldables in 2026 (or 76.2% according to Speedtest data). However, with Apple’s new iPhone Duo, experts says that the foldable market will jump 20% in 2026 and that Apple will immediately grab nearly 28% of that market.
Looking deeper, Galaxy Z Fold 7 is by far the most popular foldable, sitting at 24.2% of global Speedtest data. That’s then followed by Z Fold 6, Z Fold 5, and Flip 7. Samsung’s newest Galaxy Z Fold 8 currently sits at #9 in the rankings with 3.3%.
For those who might be curious about the very limited Galaxy Z TriFold device, its percentage was sitting at 0.5%.
The Future: With Apple’s adoption and launch of iPhone Duo, the future of foldables is bright. There is no doubt that many people will buy that device, so if you’re already a fan of foldables, that’s a good thing.
The problem facing mass adoption remains the same: Price. These phones are sometimes twice as much (if not more) than any other phone you can buy. That will likely keep it in the niche department for a long time unless the cost of manufacturing these foldables drops significantly.
// Ookla
