Abstract:
Counterpoint Research released the latest folding screen mobile phone panel shipment report. The data shows that in the first half of 2026, the overall shipments of global folding screen smartphone panels fell by 13% year-on-year. The market structure has clearly differentiated, with large folding panels maintaining rapid growth and clamshell models shrinking significantly.
Specifically, in the first half of the year, shipments of clamshell folding panels plummeted 62% year-on-year, while shipments of large folding panels surged 35% year-on-year, and the panel share increased from 50% to 78%.
Looking at the second quarter alone, foldable panel shipments increased by 85% compared to the first quarter, but were still 16% lower than the second quarter of 2025. The pace of industry recovery is uneven.
In terms of manufacturer share, Samsung Display SDC's shipments in the second quarter increased by 6% year-on-year, and its panel share increased by 13.5 percentage points, reaching 66%; BOE's BOE shipments fell by 41% year-on-year, and its share fell back to 22%.
The pace of brand new product releases is the core factor that determines the performance of panel suppliers.
The agency predicts that the shipments of foldable screen mobile phone panels will increase by 23% year-on-year in 2026, and the second half of the year will usher in an explosion. Shipments in the second half of the year will increase by 53% compared with the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 71%, and 61% of the full-year shipments will be concentrated in the second half of the year.
The biggest variable in this growth comes from Apple. Apple’s foldable screen models are expected to contribute 27% of panel shipments for the whole year, and all production capacity will be released in the second half of the year.
Overall, Samsung is still the leader, with full-year shipments expected to increase by 8% year-on-year, with a share of 33%; Huawei's shipments are expected to decline slightly by 6%, with a share of 25%.
Apple, Samsung, and Huawei together account for 86% of market shipments.
In the long term, total shipments of folding screen panels will increase by 74% from 2026 to 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 15%. Large-folding and multi-folding products are the main growth drivers, with shipments of multi-folding panels increasing by as much as 179%.
By 2030, Apple’s folding screen shipments will increase by 167% compared with the base number in the second half of 2026, and the market share is expected to reach 42%. Samsung and Huawei’s shares will fall back, and the industry competition landscape will be reshaped.
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