Analytical firm Counterpoint is breaking away from the norm of reporting on U.S. Smartphone statistics once per quarter and resorting to reporting on a monthly basis, especially if it favors Apple's competition.

As Apple fans look to the iPhone 16 line-up coming in September, Apple’s sales traditionally begin to slow down in calendar Q3 each year. This year is no different with low upgrade rates, though a significant bright spot is iPhone 15 Pro sales remaining strong.

Research Director Jeff Fieldhack said, “Although overall sell-through was down, unit sales of the high-value, high-margin iPhone 15 Pro were up in double digits. The changing mix favoring Pro models has been an ongoing theme and something we are focusing on as we head into September announcements and earnings season.”

As the chart below shows, Apple's July iPhone sales overall were slightly down. Samsung is shown to have had healthy growth in July due to their new affordable Galaxy A15 5G smartphone accounting for nearly one-third of its sales, as well as an early launch of its Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 foldables.

(Click on chart to Enlarge)

Motorola is benefitting from prepaid consolidation of brands across channels, with Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T ranging fewer brands in their portfolios and the top-selling Moto G Play taking share from white labels and other vendors. Besides, device subsidies have been very attractive and promotions like the $1 downpayment for the Razr 2024 have helped the OEM dominate in retailers like Cricket.

New Foldable Smartphone Stats for Q2 2024

In respect to the Global foldables market, shipments increased 48% YoY in Q2 2024.  China continued to spearhead growth in the foldable market, accounting for over half of the total shipments, while other regions also saw significant market expansion during the quarter.

The Western Europe, Asia Pacific (excluding China, India, and South Korea), and Latin America regions registered substantial growth in foldable shipments, driven primarily by the robust performance of Chinese OEMs, particularly HONOR and Motorola.

(Click on chart to Enlarge) (Latin America (LATAM); Asia (excluding China, India & S. Korea), WE (Western Europe); NAM (North America)

Western Europe has grown to become the second-largest foldable market among key regions, where brands like HONOR, Samsung, Motorola, OPPO, OnePlus, and even Google are competing fiercely.

Western Europe hosts the most diverse range of foldable brands outside China. The intensifying competition in the region among these brands has been the key driver of the market’s growth. Notably, in Q2 2024, HONOR overtook Samsung for the first time to claim the No.1 spot in Western Europe, marking a significant shift in the competitive landscape of the region.

HONOR aggressively expanded into the European and Asia Pacific* markets, driving a 455% YoY increase in its global foldable shipments in Q2 2024, the largest YoY growth among all brands.

HONOR targeted markets outside China with its ultra-slim Magic V2, which is less than 10mm thick when folded. In Q2 2024, the HONOR Magic V2 was the most-shipped book-type foldable across all regions excluding China, where Huawei dominates.

Motorola captured the highest foldable market share in both North America and Latin America. The LATAM foldable market surged 458% YoY driven by the strong performance of the Razr 40 Series.

Motorola has secured the most diverse regional coverage among Chinese OEMs, with significant shipment increases in Europe, Asia, and other markets. Overall, Motorola achieved triple-digit YoY growth in global shipments in Q2 2024.

The foldable market outside China, once dominated almost solely by Samsung, has now become a fiercely competitive battleground for OEMs. HONOR and Motorola, both of which achieved significant success in H1 2024, have already launched their new follow-up models, the Magic V3 and Razr 50 series, respectively. Xiaomi and vivo also began launching foldables in markets outside China this year.

Samsung is strongly expected to reclaim the leading global position with the launch of the new Z6 Series in Q3 2024, but the intensified competition will likely result in a significant YoY decline in its market share.

Global OEMs are pushing foldable smartphones hard so as to establish strong mind share prior to Apple entering the market sometime between 2026-2028, according to rumors.

At the moment, foldable smartphones are providing Chinese OEMs with enough sales to overtake Apple in smartphones in Q2-24. Though globally, the hype is larger than its bite considering that foldables will only reach 1.5% of smartphone shipments in 2024, according to TrendForce. When foldable smartphone prices come down to earth, sales will quickly rise.