Gartner: Foldable handsets to grab 5 percent of the high-end smartphone market by 2023

Foldable phones might become available for the masses starting this year, but the prices will definitely fail in making them a favorite of the crowds. On the other hand, four years is a long time when it comes to tech, so Gartner's predictions regarding the future of this niche might not be completely off.

According to a recent market research report by Gartner — quoted by ZDNet — foldable handsets will account for no less than 5 percent of the high-end smartphone market by 2023. In numbers, this means no less than 30 million units. Obviously, at least some mid-rangers should adopt the foldable design by then, but the aforementioned market report also included a few other interesting predictions: the traditional PC sales will drop (no surprise here), premium ultramobiles will go up, but the PC market will slightly go down as a whole. The smartphone market is expected to fluctuate, although it might face a small drop in the long run.

Gartner analyst Robert Cozza: "Through the next five years, we expect foldable phones to remain a niche product due to several manufacturing challenges. In addition to the surface of the screen, the price is a barrier despite we expect to decline with time. Currently priced at $2,000, foldable phones present too many trade-offs, even for many early technology adopters."

A few more interesting predictions: mobile phones shipments will hit 1.8 billion units this year, down 0.5 percent from last year, with the high-end segment continuing its accelerated decline, while Windows 10 will account for 75 percent of the professional PC market by 2021. 

Do you think that foldables will take off faster? What do you want from a foldable handset to replace your phone with it — except a lower price, obviously?