Foldable smartphones are likely to evolve from a niche into a bigger market this year, as all major Chinese phone vendors are marching into the sector to popularize relevant technologies and applications, experts said.

The comments came after Vivo unveiled its first foldable smartphone-the X Fold-earlier this week, which marked a trend in which major Chinese smartphone brands are betting on foldable devices as a key growth driver amid intensified competition.

Fu Liang, an independent analyst who has been following the telecom sector for more than a decade, said that since the end of last year, Chinese phone companies had launched a series of foldable devices which are a key way for them to expand their presence in the high-end phone segment.

"As foldable display technologies continue to mature, production costs are going down, which makes foldable phones increasingly affordable," Fu said.

The Vivo X Fold, for instance, is now priced from 8,999 yuan ($1,414), and it features a large 8.03-inch folding screen on the inside for tablet-style use and a more conventional phone-sized screen-in this case, 6.53 inches-on the outside.

Vivo said its hinge allows the phone to fold flat or to be propped open at angles between 60 and 120 degrees, and the phone's screen should survive 300,000 folds, which marks a big increase over the 200,000 folds Samsung claimed for its most recent generation of foldable phones.

The new phone, a result of four years of research and development, came as Vivo secured the top position as the largest smartphone brand in China last year with a market share of 22 percent, according to data from research company Counterpoint.

Vivo's entry into the sector also ramped up competition. Market research company International Data Corporation said in its latest report that worldwide shipments of foldable phones, inclusive of both flip and folding models, reached a total of 7.1 million units in 2021, an increase of 264.3 percent over the 1.9 million units shipped in 2020.

IDC projects foldable phone shipments will reach 27.6 million units in 2025 with a compound annual growth rate of 69.9 percent from 2020 to 2025, representing a major opportunity for vendors.

"From the consumer point of view, foldable phones represent the most innovative visual change to happen to smartphones, and therefore, it is a segment that cannot be ignored by vendors. The commercial segment has also seen foldable phones being marketed as a replacement for both a phone and a tablet," IDC said.

"The recent success of foldable devices from Samsung has given new life to the category as competitors rush to enter the market," said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "Samsung has proved that there is consumer demand for foldable phones once they hit the right price and feature a more stable build."

Another market research company Display Supply Chain Consultants, or DSCC, forecasts that 2022 will see 17.5 million foldable smartphone shipments.

Zaker Li, principal analyst with market research company Omdia's mobile devices team, said as more companies launch foldable smartphones, the diversity of designs and the use of new folding forms will increase.

However, since foldable smartphones are expected to occupy the highest position in the smartphone lineups of all manufacturers in the future, the possibility that foldable phones will become a mainstream market in the future is very low, according to Omdia.