IDC: Motorola holds ~50% of the foldable market in the US and 55% in Latin America, ahead of Samsung and Google, but ~13% in Europe, for a global ~14% share
Context & Ripple Effects
Foldables were still only 1.3% of the smartphone market in 2023, even as the category began gaining traction in the US and China. Subsequent 49% year-over-year shipment growth in Q1 showed the segment could expand quickly from that small base.
Motorola had already rebuilt a meaningful US handset position after LG’s exit, becoming the country’s third-largest OEM in 2021. IDC’s regional foldable figures suggest that installed distribution and brand presence are now translating into leadership in a higher-end device category, though not uniformly across regions.
First-order effects
- Motorola is the immediate foldable-share leader in the US and Latin America, ahead of Samsung and Google, while its roughly 13% European share limits its global position to about 14%.
- Samsung and Google face a clearer competitive gap in the Americas’ foldable channel, where Motorola’s reported shares give it stronger current visibility with consumers and retail partners.
Second-order effects
- The regional split raises the value of Motorola’s Americas distribution and carrier relationships; rivals seeking share there will need to improve their foldable proposition rather than rely on global brand strength alone.
- Motorola’s position also makes the foldable category less synonymous with Samsung in the US, following earlier signs that the market was growing but still small relative to smartphones overall at just 1.3% of handset sales in 2023.
Third-order effects
- If regional leaders continue to diverge, foldables may develop as a market shaped by local channel strength and product portfolios rather than a single global vendor hierarchy.
- The evidence remains early: a small but fast-growing segment can see rankings move quickly, but Motorola’s results point to a broader diffusion of foldable leadership beyond the category’s earlier Samsung concentration.
The trend: Foldables are evolving from a Samsung-dominated niche into a regionally contested premium-phone segment, with distribution strength increasingly influencing who captures growth.