Apple's foldable iPhone and iPad might not reach the market until 2026 at the earliest. But the company may be warranted in taking its time, as the hinge for foldables is among design sticking points for some consumers.
Apple is cooking up a foldable iPad and foldable iPhone, according to The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other outlets. But Apple faces an uphill battle due to challenges in designing the hinge for foldables and competition from vendors that have already released foldable smartphones.
The company's designers are working on a device that's essentially a "giant iPad that unfolds into the size of two iPad Pros side-by-side," said Bloomberg. The device likely won't hit the market until 2028, added Bloomberg. Apple is working on developing the foldable device with a nearly invisible crease.
On the topic of cost, Bloomberg noted that Lenovo Group's Yoga Book 9i, which is a foldable touchscreen laptop, is priced under $2,000 and has dual 13.3-inch OLED screens (OLED screens are used to create digital displays in devices). However, consumers should be prepared to pay more for an Apple version of a foldable iPad.
Runar Bjørhovde, analyst with Canalys, a sister company to Light Reading, forecasts that a foldable iPhone and foldable iPad could hit the market even sooner than Bloomberg predicts. The market could see foldables from Apple as soon as 2026 or 2027, which would mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, according to Bjørhovde.
Apple may be warranted in taking its time to release foldable devices, as the hinge for foldables is among some design sticking points for some consumers.
"Samsung has had quality issues with some of its foldable smartphones with high repair and return rates, which Apple will seek to avoid at all cost," said Bjørhovde in a note to Light Reading.
'Doesn't need to be first'
Meanwhile, several of Apple's competitors are several iterations into their own foldable devices.
In July, Samsung launched two new foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6. One month later, Google launched its new foldable – the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Both companies said their new foldables were thinner than previous models.
With a number of foldables already on the market, Apple is still biding its time: "Due to its massive scale and high consumer trust, Apple has to act very conservatively in the market," said Bjørhovde. Apple requires a "tremendous shift" for its supply chain to deliver the scale and quality of a new product, he added.
"For Apple, the foldable products come with the supply chain being ready," said Bjørhovde. "Apple needs to be strong on innovation and highly reliable, but it doesn't need to be first as the premium smartphone market mostly is Apple's to lose."
And for good reason: Some past attempts at foldables from major market players have tanked. Microsoft ditched its attempts at a foldable tablet with the Courier and later the Neo, in 2019, as consumer interest was lackluster, said Bloomberg.
And despite some negative news about the Apple Vision Pro VR headset not performing well in the market and slow uptake for Apple Intelligence, Apple's AI software, the company's stock price is up 34% year-to-date (YTD), said Bjørhovde. "The market is still clearly very optimistic about Apple," he added.
As for its competitors, Samsung stock is down 33% YTD, Microsoft is up 19%, Qualcomm is up 9%, and Google is up 38%.
The foldable OLED market is forecast to grow considerably this year from 23.1 million units in 2023 to 32.9 million units in 2024, and 100% of the shipment is forecast to be used for smartphone applications, according to David Hsieh, senior research director for Omdia, an analyst group and sister company to Light Reading.
By 2030, the market is anticipated to grow to over 120 million units of foldable smartphones shipped each year. Still, that's a small portion of the overall smartphone display market which is over 1.5 billion units.
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