Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it sold four times as many foldable Galaxy Z series phones this year as last year, further solidifying its lead in the fast-growing new smartphone segment.

While the South Korean tech giant did not disclose the exact tally, the total sales of the Galaxy Z series is believed to be around 8-9 nine million units this year, led by the popularity of the Galaxy Z Fold3, which folds in half like a book, and the clamshell-type Galaxy Z Flip3, among young tech-savvy consumers.

About one month after being released in the market in August, the combined sales of the two new foldable models exceeded total accumulative sales of Samsung foldable devices of last year, the company said.

Notably, the two were found to be the most popular Samsung phones yet, with the highest conversion rates that users of other brands switched to, Samsung said, thanks to the former's "large screen for viewing content, multitasking capabilities and productivity features, including the S Pen" and the latter's "stylish design, portability and an innovative folding form factor."

Compared with the Galaxy Note20, Samsung said it has seen a 150 percent increase in users, who switched smartphone brands for the Galaxy Z Flip3, and a 140 percent rise compared with the Galaxy S21.

The world's largest mobile phone maker introduced the concept of foldable displays in 2011 and unveiled its first foldable device Galaxy Fold in 2019.

Samsung launched both the Z Fold3 and the Z Flip3, powered by a 5-nanometer application processor, at lower price tags compared with their predecessors, as it strives to mainstream the foldable smartphone category and beef up its presence in the premium market.

Industry tracker Counterpoint Research had previously estimated that the foldable smartphone market would grow three times this year compared with 2020 and Samsung will dominate the market with a 75 percent market share until 2023. (Yonhap)