New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS): The new Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 foldable smartphone may see sales close to 9 million units this year, helping Samsung's foldables market share to jump to 80 per cent at the end of 2022, a new report has said.

During the first half of this year, Samsung enjoyed dominant market share of foldables, accounting for 62 per cent of the market. Huawei and OPPO came in a distant second and third.

Foldables continue to be the fastest growing smartphone product category this year and Samsung continues to lead the category it created with the first Galaxy Fold device, said Counterpoint Research.

The foldables are expected to grow to 26 million units in 2023, the report mentioned.

"The strong growth defies current economic headwinds as the premium market shows resilience and steady demand. Counterpoint forecasts strong growth through next year too," said senior analyst Jene Park.

The global foldable smartphone market is set to grow 73 per cent this year, from 9 million units last year to 16 million units.

"Samsung has led the market since the beginning, and we think its dominance will continue for some time. Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi and vivo are all introducing new foldables but they are mostly limited to the Chinese market," said Park.

Motorola may be the only contender in markets like the US for now.

"Foldables not only bring fresh design to smartphones – traditionally ruled by bar-type form factors – but also more screen real estate," said Park.

This is growing in importance with smartphone use cases expanding, especially across media, entertainment and work.

"Framing the growth in foldables, we see the premium market showing strong growth despite macro headwinds, with ultra-premium leading the segment," said Park.