TOKYO -- A teardown of Samsung Electronics' newest smartphone shows that its estimated cost of components is about 40% of the device's sale price, beating Apple's latest iPhone in this key profitability metric. This suggests that profitability has spurred manufacturers to make foldable smartphones of their own. Samsung is taking advantage of parts made in South Korea for the model, as seen in its local content ratio of about 50%.
Demand for foldable mobile phones is picking up after a slow start. Although they account for less than 2% of the global market for cellphones, shipments of foldable models are forecast to rise 73% in 2022 from the previous year to 16 million units, according to Counterpoint Research, a market research company in Hong Kong.
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