Apple has reportedly put its foldable iPhone project on ice after tested foldable panels failed to pass its display department's criteria. This claim from a generally credible leaker from the vast confines of the Chinese tech blogosphere contends that Apple took flexible handsets for testing and reverse engineering, as well as to review the foldable screen samples sent to it by the screen manufacturers.
So far so good, Korean media recently reported that Apple had indeed taken delivery of foldable display samples from companies like
Samsung, LG or BOE, basically all the usual suspects that make such panels. One of the devices with foldable screens examined by Apple reportedly failed within days, although the source did not specify whether the hinge broke or developed screen artifacts.
This isn't the only reason for the rumored foldable
iPhone project to be frozen, as Apple's display department apparently didn't find the overall quality of the foldable panel up to par. It's not hard to imagine either, since Apple is known for being very picky about panel features, durability, and pricing, which often gets its display suppliers in trouble.
Foldable phones have great screens
Who knew?
Foldable phones already have stunning displays, inside and out
The entire episode or reading of it, however, is rather absurd. We've been testing foldable phone screens for quite a while now, and while the first editions had many issues with durability and display specs, their screens are now on par with, and sometimes even better than, their non-hinge brethren. . Take for example the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or the OnePlus Open screens.
They are extremely bright, with high dynamic refresh rates and the best HDR certifications. In short, they look great no matter how you cut or fan them out. In fact, the gap between the specifications of modern devices with foldable screens and rigid ones has been virtually erased.
As you can see, the foldable devices here meet or exceed the display quality benchmarks of 2023 and 2024 flagships, including those with a claimed brightness of 4,500, or the OLED screens of the vaunted flagship phones of Apple and Samsung.
Apple doesn't need a foldable iPhone but could launch a foldable iPad
Why fold?
Depending on today's freshness
Trend Strength report,
foldable phone shipments reached around 16 million units last year, up 25% since 2022, but still representing only 1.4% of the market. While at one point foldable devices represented the fastest growing segment, with many Chinese companies launching their first or second try at a foldable device, growth is expected to be more tepid this year, with shipments of handsets foldables increasing by 11% to reach 17.7 million units. According to TrendForce analysts, “
this growth rate remains below market expectations, with the segment's share expected to only exceed 2% by 2025“.
Foldable phone market share
In terms of brand performance, Samsung remains the market leader despite its market share falling from 80% in 2022 to less than 70% in 2023, while Huawei's shipments increased to 12%. Brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have kept their shares below 10%. By 2024, Samsung aims to maintain its foldable phone market share around 60%, in line with its 2023 target. Huawei, on the other hand, is aggressively increasing its foldable phone shipments, aiming for a market share that could exceed 20%.
Faster market penetration rates would come when all foldable phone the disadvantages in the minds of consumers – mainly price and ecological footprint – are addressed. Chinese manufacturers like Oppo or OnePlus have already shown this foldable phones can be thin, light, affordable and have good cameras. Samsung has reportedly taken note, trying to catch up with them with a thinner and cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 6, but it remains to be seen whether all these advancements will make foldables the preferred choice with significant market share rates in the coming years.
Much thinner than before, foldables are still considered bulky
To hinge or not to hinge
All this hubbub how foldable phone the screens aren't up to Apple's high standards, which may have halted development of the proverbial flexible iPhone, failing to understand that Apple simply doesn't need them. Its bread-and-butter iPhone franchise is selling like hotcakes and Apple wouldn't dilute or cannibalize willy-nilly without a compelling reason.
Putting a hinge in the middle of an iPhone is simply no such reason. Yes, a hinge, since the iPhone still comes with a flexible screen with a plastic substrate as it all does now. Just folding and unfolding it must add value to the iPhone user and that's what Apple is probably thinking about rather than being scared off by its display department's folding panel tests .
Hence the reports that Apple is trying to revive its struggling iPad and especially iPad mini sales, or even to first make a Mac with a foldable screen before deeming a foldable iPhone necessary.
When this happens, foldables should have already proven popular with users and suppliers should be able to provide quality components cheaply and in abundance. This is how Apple generally behaves when it comes to going crazy with drastic iPhone hardware or form factor upgrades.
By then, a foldable iPhone would be prohibitively expensive without any truly compelling use case. Just like the Vision
Pro hardware, which the Apple team is now reorienting towards the development of its foldables.
