Samsung unfazed by Huawei's top spot in foldable phone segment

Seoul-based company will focus on improving quality in the 'super premium' category, executive vice president says

A display shows the manufacturer's foldable devices at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris. AFP

Samsung Electronics is not concerned with Huawei Technologies taking the top spot in the global foldable smartphone market and will instead focus on improving its hardware and artificial intelligence in the "super premium" category, a senior executive has said.

The Seoul-based tech giant, the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, will continue to put its efforts into a category that "needs to be perfected in quality", Patrick Chomet, executive vice president and head of customer experience at Samsung Electronics, said on the sidelines of the company's Unpacked event in Paris.

"I'm not concerned at all. [The foldables category] is still growing; it's still an innovation category and we think there is still a long way to go before the inflection point," he told The National during a roundtable.

Samsung is not concerned on "big numbers" and will instead focus on improving the quality and user experience on its devices, Mr Chomet said.

He did, however, acknowledge Chinese company Huawei's rise to the top, noting its home turf advantage.

"[Huawei] is a fine company, China is a big market and, historically, China is the biggest market for affordable [mobile phones]. So, it's very natural in such a huge market," Mr Chomet said.

"We are focusing on super premium [devices] ... of course, we'll be also competing in China."

Foldable smartphones remain a minor category in the overall market but manufacturers have been working on boosting their share in the segment.

Samsung pushed the category into the mainstream with the original Galaxy Z Fold in 2019. The company followed that up with the Galaxy Z Flip the following year, a smaller but also more affordable phone in a bid to attract more users.

Since then, Samsung has dominated the foldable category, with a market share that peaked at more than 80 per cent about two years ago.

However, Huawei overtook Samsung in the foldables segment in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

Shenzhen-based Huawei has the biggest market share in foldables at about 35 per cent, followed by Samsung with 23 per cent - down from 58 per cent a year ago, the May report found.

"Within China, Huawei remains the go-to choice for foldable phones," Aaron West, a senior analyst at industry data tracker Omdia, told The National.

That is despite Huawei's devices lacking Google's Android operating system, because of the company's 2019 inclusion in the US's so-called Entity List, on allegations that Huawei is a national security threat.

Huawei has consistently denied the claims.

Meanwhile, in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, Samsung is "definitely" first in the foldable category, Omar Saheb, regional vice president of marketing and online business at Samsung Electronics Middle East and North Africa, told The National in Paris.

He did acknowledge that foldable smartphones would become mainstream only when the price points go towards the levels of mass devices, compared to flagships.

"This will take a bit of time. The technology is still relatively new and other brands have only entered recently. We expect, like any innovation, when the cost becomes more economical, it cascades into the masses and it becomes more dominant," Mr Saheb said.