Turns out Samsung isn't king of the foldables – and you might be surprised by the brand that is

While Samsung has dominated the folding phone segment for a number of years, the latest information from IDC reveals an interesting twist: it's not the number one foldable brand in the US or Latin America. That accolade goes to... Motorola.

Samsung has offered two formats of folding phone for a number of years, the Z Flip and the Z Fold. While much of the focus is on the Fold device as the flagship, for many years the Z Flip has outsold this model thanks to its retro charms, compact convenience and more approachable price.

But in the US, it's the Moto Razr that dominates, offering an advantage that Samsung has lacked in the past – more affordable devices.

The details were revealed in a video from IDC that was filmed at Mobile World Congress, where Motorola fully unveiled its latest folding phone, the Motorola Razr Fold.

In the video, Francisco Jeronimo and Nabila Popal from IDC discuss the new device, while also discussing Motorola's position.

The results reveal that Motorola has 50% of the market in the US and 55% in Latin America. Meanwhile in Europe, the company has about 13% – but faces greater competition from the likes of Honor, Oppo and others.

Francisco Jeronimo in conversation with Nabila Popal from IDC about the Motorola Razr Fold - YouTube

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Part of Motorola's success comes down to the multi-tiered approach to the Razr, with the Razr and Razr+ (or Razr 60 and Razr 60 Ultra in Europe) offering a more affordable way to buy devices.

Samsung only added this tiering with the launch of the Z Flip 7 and Z Flip 7 FE – but Samsung's devices are still much more expensive than Motorola's.

We're yet to see an update to the Motorola Razr in 2026, with the focus for now being on the Razr Fold, but we're sure that Motorola will soon bring us new devices to make the competition even hotter.

For many years, flip style phones have outsold fold type devices for Samsung, but that only started to change with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 7, where orders finally passed the Flip sibling. It's thought that the refined design had a part to play here, while expectation of an Apple iPhone Fold is expected to liven up the market.

Despite sales in the US so far being dominated by Razr – a flip device – Apple has reportedly rejected that format, saying it was "unnecessary". It's thought that Apple's device will be a wider folding phone, opening up with an internal display more like a small iPad.