Chinese smartphone makers are helping drive the popularity of foldable handsets worldwide as they constantly experiment with new features to resonate with consumers on the back of innovation, experts said.

Tom Kang, research director at Counterpoint, said: "At the moment, foldable smartphones remain niche. But it is an important segment for brands looking to maintain leadership in innovation and a premium market presence."

The consultancy forecast in a report that global shipments of foldable phones are projected to reach 101.5 million units in 2027 from 18.6 million units in 2023.

Regional drivers, especially China, combined with growing consumer willingness to buy foldable devices, will help keep shipment growth buoyant, Counterpoint said.

Kang said Chinese smartphone makers have been very active, especially in their home markets, with China emerging as the biggest foldable smartphone market globally last year.

"If you want to make it in foldable smartphones, you have to make it there."

For instance, Oppo unveiled its latest clamshell foldable smartphone, Find N3 Flip, featuring triple cameras, on Tuesday, in its latest push to bring high-quality mobile imaging functions to foldable handsets.

The move comes after Oppo's Find N2 Flip became the No 1 model among foldable clamshell smartphones in China in the first half, with a market share of 13.1 percent, the research firm said.

Oppo said Find N3 Flip boasts Hasselblad cameras, marking a big upgrade from the Find N2 Flip. There is an updated 48-megapixel ultra-wide module and a 32-megapixel lens. The main camera is a 50-megapixel unit.

Pete Lau, chief product officer at Oppo, said the new-generation Find N3 Flip model is the only small foldable smartphone that can truly serve as a go-to handset, leading in all aspects including internal screen reliability, battery life, communication capability, external screen ecology, shooting and charging.

Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, said there is intensified competition among smartphone makers in the global foldable market due to more aggressive target market expansion.

Also, the Chinese foldable market is expected to continue to grow through 2023, mainly due to Chinese consumers' recognition of foldable smartphones as premium devices, coupled with continuous and frequent new product launches domestically, Xiang said.

In the first half, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Vivo and Samsung also launched their latest foldable smartphone models to attract consumers, with some of them making ambitious efforts to expand presence in overseas markets.

Foldable smartphones are still the fastest-growing smartphone product category this year, with the strong growth defying the overall market slowdown, as the high-end phone segment shows resilience and steady demand, experts said.

Foldable smartphone shipments jumped 173 percent year-on-year to 1.26 million units in the second quarter in China, said global market research firm International Data Corp.

In the first half, the country shipped 2.27 million foldable phones, marking a 102-percent surge from the same period last year, IDC said.