It’s a niche market… which seems to attract the richest clients. From January to September 2023, the sale of foldable smartphones in France represents only 2% of all smartphone sales.
But these high-end devices represent “5% of the turnover achieved by the market” specifies Paul Briffeille, analyst at GfK. A performance, because in a market declining by 15% in volume, sales of foldables are rising sharply!
“There is really growth in this segment, in which the margins are very attractive,” explains Paul Briffeille. In volume, foldable smartphones, therefore the Flip and Fold models combined, we are at +48% compared to last year at the same period. »
But who are the Flip and Fold customers?
The term Flip refers to the “clamshell” format of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip. While Fold refers to the type of “two-in-one” smartphone that takes the dimensions of a tablet when unfolded, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.
And it is no coincidence that it is Samsung which serves as a benchmark in this foldable smartphone market: the company is in its fifth generation of foldable smartphones. In France, it holds the top 15 sales on the retail market for foldable smartphones with its different models from different generations.
So who are the Flip and Fold customers?
“We know that the Fold is more business-oriented, that’s for sure,” replies James Pinto, also an analyst at GfK. Because the format lends itself to it. Whether to consult an Excel file or other. It’s much more practical. The Flip is aimed at people who are much more playful. »
Statutory products, but not only
On the usage side for professionals, Frédéric Fauchère, director of Samsung’s B2B Mobility Division, highlights several advantages.
The Fold’s multi-window allows you to run and display up to three apps on the screen simultaneously. The Korean manufacturer also highlights the reliability acquired with five generations of smartphones, and especially its Knox security solution certified by ANSSI (the National Information Systems Security Agency).
“The first measure of the success of a product is whether or not it is listed in a customer catalog,” says Frédéric Fauchère. Depending on the user profile in the company, client companies will have 5, 10 products, products for blue-collar workers, products for white-collar workers, products for highly mobile staff, for sedentary workers.
« The Fold [de Samsung] is referenced in at least half of the CAC40 companies,” says the manager. The distribution within these companies between Flip Z and Fold Z is identical from the 3rd to the fifth generation, i.e. 73% / 27%.
“The Flip 5 is a real success, it allows you to differentiate your employees and attract talent. More and more young people are deciding on the company where they want to work based on the tools made available to them. With the Flip, today, there is a real phenomenon of attractiveness and retention. »
Where are the competitors?
“With these products, Samsung is attacking very high-end price segments,” analyzes Paul Briffeille. Bringing innovation to these segments allows them to compete with another major market leader [ndlr. Apple] which until now really dominated unchallenged. We see with these launches that Samsung is able to challenge. »
The Flip 5 and Fold 5 are sold from €1,200 and €1,900, where the price of smartphones on the general public market in France is projected at €533 according to Gfk for 2023.
But despite this trend, Samsung’s competitors are almost all absent, at least in France. Google, it has been confirmed to us, will not market its Google Fold in France, unlike Germany and Great Britain.
Xiaomi does not sell its foldable in France either. Not to mention Oppo leaving the country. Of course, there is OnePlus which just launched its Open model a few days ago. But the competition is not really significant for Samsung.
“New players will come to the market,” says a market specialist. In any case there is a niche to be taken in the foldable. And I don’t think Samsung will go it alone for very long on the French market. I think we can see an Asian actor coming quite quickly in 2024.”
Tests have already been done.
Honor Magic V2, a test on the French market?
Asked about the disappearance of the Honor Magic Vs foldable model from the French market, the brand’s sales director, Frédéric Gulesserian, assures that the sale of this product would have served to test the appetite of French customers for this type of product. smartphones.
“We sold everything,” Honor boasts. And it is true that it is now impossible to buy it, even on the manufacturer’s website.
In detail, Honor would have sold between 1000 and 2000 copies, concedes Frédéric Gulesserian. A drop in the ocean compared to the 180,000 foldable smartphones sold in retail in France from January 2023 to last September, for a large part of Samsung products.
The Honor Magic V2. Image Honor
Of all the known manufacturers, Honor is the one that seems closest to competing with Samsung on the French market, if it decides to try the adventure. It is in its third iteration of its form factor Fold, with the Magic V, Magic Vs and Magic V2 models.
The Magic V2, designed for the French market
The Magic V2, successfully sold in China since this summer, is according to Frédéric Gulesserian, the Fold type model on which Honor is pinning its hopes internationally and in particular in France.
“This product is ten months ahead of the competition,” he says. At present, it is the thinnest foldable product in the world. It weighs only 231g, which is the equivalent of an iPhone 15 Pro Max [ndlr. plus précisément 218 g sur la balance]. It measures 9.9mm folded and 4.9mm when unfolded. So it is ultra thin. We would like to offer this product to our customers next year in France, at the start of the first quarter. »
If he recognizes that Samsung has “already worked the market well”, Frédéric Gulesserian adds that Honor, with its Magic V2, would have “the desire to enter the premium market. “The Fold format, for us, is above all the opportunity to attract customers,” he says. Currently, the [tranche des smartphones] over €800 is trusted by two major brands [ndlr. Apple et Samsung]. With this product we will attract a lot of Galaxy Fold 4 or Z Fold 5 users but also iPhone users. »
According to CounterPoint, by 2027, 39% of the overall premium smartphone market will be foldable smartphones. And around 2025, according to the same study, a certain Apple should appear in this segment.
We will then see if Samsung the pioneer will remain the only profiteer.