People are looking at the iPhone in the Apple Fifth Avenue Store in New York City on May 23, 2025.
Adam Grey | Reuters
apple There are plans to create a foldable iPhone starting next year, trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Wednesday.
Kuo said Apple’s folding phones have a display created by Samsung displays. It plans to produce up to 8 million foldable panels for the device next year. However, other components, such as the device hinges, have not been determined, writes Kuo. He expects it to have “premium pricing.”
Kuo is an analyst at TF International Securities, focusing on the Asian electronics supply chain and often discusses Apple products before it is launched.
He wrote in a post on social media site X that Apple’s plans for foldable iPhones are not yet locked and could change. Apple did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Apple’s iPhones account for more than half of Apple’s business and are extremely profitable products, with the company’s 2024 revenue of $20 billion. However, iPhone revenue peaked in 2022. Apple is constantly urging it to attract new customers and upgrade to more expensive devices than its current customers.
The Flex S is another conceptual device that Samsung unveiled at MWC. It folds in a more zigzag-like way to create a “S” shape.
Ryan Brown | CNBC
Several Apple’s rivals, including Huawei and Samsung, have been releasing foldable smartphones since 2019.
The device promises the tablet’s screen size in a format that can be stored in a pants pocket. However, folding phones have hardware issues, such as folding displays.
Also, folding phones have not yet proven that they will drive substantial demand after the novelty fades.
Research firm Trendforce last year said that only 1.5% of all smartphones on sale can be folded. Counterpoint, another research firm that tracks smartphone sales, said earlier this year that the folding market had only increased by around 3% in 2024 and is expected to shrink in 2025.
