3 lakh foldable smartphones to be sold in India in 2022: Report

Foldable smartphones are set to witness a massive 638 per cent jump in sales in India in 2021 and are expected to touch a record 3 lakh units sales in 2022, a new report showed on Wednesday.

The foldable smartphone revenues are expected to grow by 60 per cent next year, translating in Rs 3,200 crore for the industry that will include Samsung and a few more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) expected to launch their foldable smartphones in 2022, according to data provided by market research firm Techarc.

"In terms of sales volumes, the market is likely to cross 3 lakh units in 2022, which will be close to 7 per cent of the luxe segment of smartphones," said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst, Techarc.

In 2022, three-four smartphone OEMs are expected to launch foldable smartphone form factors giving consumers wider choice. Samsung is the only smartphone OEM with commercially available foldable smartphones for the past 3 years.

"The revenues from foldable smartphone sales for Samsung in India are expected to cross Rs 2,000 crore by the end of calendar year 2021. This will be close to 5 per cent of Samsung's total revenues from smartphones in India," the report noted.

Samsung launched the third generation of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold as well as Samsung Galaxy Z Flip this year. Both the foldable smartphones have seen good response from the market, though the foldable form factor sells more than the flip form factor.

"The foldable smartphones offer unique proposition for users in the luxe segment, and going forward in premium and sub-premium segments, where the users can continue using the smartphones without any compromise on the pocketability (portability) of the smartphones as well as transform it for rich content consumption," the findings showed.