A lot of attention to different devices does not always translate into big sales. Foldable smartphones since their appearance in 2019 always gather a lot of attention from the press, bloggers, and enthusiasts, but such models still have not received a large share of the market in sales.

Analytical company IDC predicts that sales of foldable smartphones will reach 13.5 million units this year. The problem is that this is only 1.1% of the expected total sales of 1.325 billion smartphones in total.

Therefore, Nabila Popal, the head of IDC’s global quarterly monitoring of smartphone sales research, does not predict the widespread popularity of foldable smartphones. According to the company’s forecasts, the total annual sales growth will be 38.7% between 2011 and 2026, but even then the share of foldable smartphones will reach only 2.8%.

Popal also added that such gadgets could be sold much better if they cost less, but personally he would not like such a development.

“Vendors should focus on improving user experience and building to increase confidence in the category and generate long-term growth. I believe foldables are the future of premium Android devices even if, as a whole, they are only expected to capture less than three percent of global volume by the end of our forecast period.”

Popal also advises manufacturers to leave the current positioning of Samsung’s sophisticated devices as an “expensive status symbol”, because such a niche is very profitable. Perhaps this is the reason why other manufacturers also support it. Apart from Apple, which, although it is the leader in this price segment, still does not produce foldable smartphones.