sandalwood

Key Takeaways

The foldable smartphone market has entered a downshift: in January–July 2026, overall unit sales and sales value fell 10% and 9% year on year, yet the RMB 10K–15K price band's volume share rose from 27% to 45%, up 49% year on year — a sign that mainstream flagships around the RMB 10K mark have become the structural opportunity.

The wide-fold's core value is turning the big screen into horizontal usable space that serves users more often and more effectively: across reviews, video entertainment and mobile office account for 36% and 34% of scenario mentions respectively — what users actually pay for is video with fewer black bars, and higher horizontal information density in documents, spreadsheets and PDFs.

The HUAWEI Pura X Max has already validated the wide-fold's market acceptance, holding nearly a fifth of foldable sales since launch at a stable ASP of RMB 12,400–12,700; if Apple now enters the segment, user awareness, app adaptation and the content ecosystem are set to mature further.

01 Foldables Enter a Downshift; 10K-Class Mainstream Flagships Become the Structural Opportunity

The 10K–15K price band's volume share rose from 27% to 45%

Foldable smartphones have evolved across form factors — book-style, clamshell, then tri-fold: book-style emphasizes the large unfolded display, clamshell emphasizes pocketable portability, and tri-fold expands screen area even further.

In 2026, though, the market has moved past early novelty-seeking over form factors, and on to proving genuine, everyday value.

According to Sandalwood's China e-commerce monitoring data, in January–July 2026 overall foldable unit sales and sales value fell 10% and 9% year on year, with ASP up only 1% — the foldable market has entered a growth downshift.

On price structure, the RMB 10K–15K band's volume share climbed from 27% to 45% (+49% year on year), the only core price range to expand materially.

By contrast, the 0–4K, 4–6K, 6–8K and 8–10K bands held shares of just 6%, 10%, 17% and 14%, each down 20–30% year on year, while the 15K+ ultra-premium band fell to 9% (-46%).

Demand is thus converging on the mainstream flagship experience around RMB 10K — and the wide-fold form factor offers exactly that price band a new value fulcrum.

02 The Wide-Fold's Core Value: More Efficient, More Convenient Horizontal Usable Space

Video entertainment and mobile office draw the most buzz

In wide-fold review data, among reviews that name a concrete usage scenario, video entertainment and mobile office account for 36% and 34% of mentions respectively — the two loudest demand signals.

For video, what users care about is not screen inches per se but effective content area: versus the near-square inner display of a traditional book-style foldable, the wide-fold delivers more actual picture area with fewer black bars, and a stronger first impression.

For office work, the wide-fold adds horizontal information density: documents fit roughly 30% more text per line, and spreadsheets and PDFs display nearly 40% more content — far less zooming, horizontal scrolling and page switching.

Reviews about replacing a small tablet account for about 9% of mentions, and the tablet market itself confirms this need.

In January–July 2026, China's overall tablet market shrank (-8% year on year), yet sub-9-inch small tablets grew (+22%).

Users clearly still want a big screen that travels, plus lightweight mobile content and work devices — and the wide-fold's value lies precisely in merging a phone's portability and connectivity with a small tablet's display and light-office capability in a single device.

03 The Wide-Fold Now Combines Form-Factor Freshness with a More Complete Experience

Design tops wide-fold review mentions

Among products already on shelves, the HUAWEI Pura X Max has validated the wide-fold's market acceptance.

Since launch it has taken nearly a fifth of foldable sales — share climbing month by month from 13% to 19% between April and July 2026 — with ASP steady at RMB 12,400–12,700, right inside the 10K–15K band where growth is most certain.

In user perception, the Pura X Max no longer leans on form-factor novelty alone:

Across its reviews, design leads at 31%, with screen and camera at 19% and 11%, and all three core dimensions hold approval ratings above 90%. Distinctive, innovative looks create the first-glance appeal; fine-grained display and wide-format viewing reinforce the big-screen feel; camera clarity, color performance, plus AI editing and smart-shooting features round out a true premium daily-driver experience.

On weight and thickness, the Pura X Max weighs 229g — lighter than most book-style foldables — and its 11.2mm body sits mid-range across foldables overall (6.1–17.8mm).

Its value is not extreme thinness and lightness; it is a new balance among traditional clamshells, book-style foldables and small tablets — big-screen usability, main-phone experience and relative portability in one.

Set against industry trends, the wide-fold's significance is only beginning to unfold.

Apple has officially confirmed it will launch its own wide-fold model in September 2026.

Apple's entry would further lift consumer awareness and accelerate adaptation across app ecosystems, content formats and multitasking experiences — amplifying the value of the wide landscape screen in video, office and creative scenarios.

Meanwhile, with leading brands pushing the same direction, most other manufacturers are likely to follow, moving the wide-fold from a single-product experiment into systematic product-definition competition.

Whether it becomes a lasting mainstream form factor will ultimately depend on whether the wide screen keeps delivering real, frequent, tangible gains in use.