(Yicai) Sept. 11 -- Huawei Technologies and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications launched their latest foldable smartphones on the same day, with competition in the segment poised to get even tougher, industry insiders told Yicai.

Oppo released its new generation small fordable model, the Find N3 Flip, across all sales channels on Sept. 8, while Huawei launched the Mate X5 without any preview on its website. The two Chinese firms lead the segment along with South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics.

Sales of the Find N3 Flip surged 91 percent compared with Oppo's previous model, setting new records for daily and overall sales in the small foldable phone market, according to the latest official figures.

Dongguan-based Oppo released its first-gen foldable phone, the Find N, in 2021. Its share of the Chinese market hit 18.3 percent in the first half of last year, ranking second behind Huawei, data from market researcher IDC showed. Thanks to the launch last year of its second-gen models, the Find N2 and Find N2 Flip, its market share topped that of Huawei in the first quarter of this year, after growing to 35 percent.

Richard Yu, chief executive of Shenzhen-based Huawei’s devices business, took to Weibo following the Mate X5’s launch, saying “the best foldable mobile phone must be that of Huawei.”

Oppo and Huawei monopolized the rankings for the top five best-selling foldable smartphones in China from January to May, accounting for 76 percent of sales, Archie Zhang, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, told Yicai. The size of the folding screen market will now depend on the frequency of Huawei's product releases and price trends, Zhang noted.

Global shipments of foldable handsets will quadruple between 2022 and 2025 to 55 million units, according to Zhang. With the release of more models from Chinese manufacturers, including Honor, Xiaomi, and Vivo Communication Technology, competition will harden and extend overseas, Zhang added.

According to Counterpoint, Huawei will launch the Mate X3 in the Middle East, African and European markets, while Oppo has released foldable models in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. Honor has also debuted the V Purse, its first exterior foldable concept phone, in Europe.

China, North America, Europe, and South Korea are the world's largest markets for foldable phones, accounting for more than 80 percent in 2022. China was first with 26 percent, followed by North America with 21 percent. South Korea and Europe have seen their shares shrink, while Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region were second and third for growth despite smaller market shares.

Editor: Martin Kadiev