TrendForce Tiburon Consulting today released a report, said the folding phone shipments in 2022 about 12.8 million, in 2023 is estimated to reach 18.5 million.
The report points out that the hinge is one of the key components to determine the cost of folding phones, shouldering the phone bending life, open and close feel, screen crease depth and other functional issues most relevant to the consumer experience. This also means that the hinge is good or bad will directly affect consumers’ willingness to buy a folding phone. As the market penetration of folding phones increases, the hinge market is expected to be worth more than USD 500 million in 2023 (currently about RMB 3.355 billion), up 14.6% year-on-year.
According to TrendForce, hinges can be divided into two types of designs: waterdrop and U-shaped. Since the hinge parts of the waterdrop design are more and the cost is several times higher than that of the U-shaped design, when the penetration rate of foldable phones increases, the primary problem faced by smartphone brand factories using waterdrop hinges is cost pressure.
According to reports, according to the brand market share of folding phones in 2022, the use of U-shaped hinge Samsung’s market share is the highest at about 82%, and most of Samsung’s foldable phone hinges are provided by KH Vatech, S-connect and other suppliers, synchronized with the active import of other manufacturers to achieve supply chain diversification to reduce costs. The water drop type is used by other brands, with a total market share of nearly 20%, and the hinges are provided by Amphenol, EPILEDS and other manufacturers.
