In a meeting with component suppliers, Samsung briefed them that it would see an increase in foldable smartphone shipments, likely to prepare them for an influx of orders. The company currently leads the market for this particular class of devices and also predicts that Apple will enter it in 2024. However, Samsung’s biggest rival in the smartphone space may not start its journey with a foldable iPhone but with larger-screen products.
Foldable MacBooks, iPads Expected to See a Launch in 2024, According to Samsung
With the foldable smartphone slowly picking up traction, it is unclear why Samsung would think that Apple would not want to capitalize on this opportunity to launch a foldable iPhone, instead believing that a foldable MacBook or foldable iPad would launch in 2024. According to Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, the first foldable iPhone may arrive in 2025, and predicts that it would have to be extremely expensive, almost a niche product, for it to do well without affecting the sales of regular iPhones.
A price of $2,500 was also predicted, making it significantly more expensive than what the Galaxy Z Fold 4 sold for. A foldable MacBook or iPad would have more utility since, at will, users would be able to bend it, make it more compact, and travel with it. Additionally, using Apple’s efficient M-series of chipsets can make those products slimmer, making them less heavy to carry around and easier to fold without adding more bulk.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is of the opinion that the first foldable iPhone would be an instant winner and predicts Apple would ship up to 20 million units in a single year, dwarfing Samsung’s accomplishments. Kuo believes that Apple’s seamless software integration would contribute to the foldable iPhone’s increase in popularity, even if customers have to wait a few more years for it. It is possible that Apple’s 16-inch iPad, which is rumored to arrive in the fourth quarter of 2023, is creating the stepping stones the company needs to pivot to the foldable market.
After all, its display size will be significantly larger than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, nearly matching the footprint of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, offering sufficient real estate to a significant customer base. When folded, this 16-inch iPad could tout the size of an iPad mini for quick and easy storage. Samsung’s prediction all depends on Apple’s motivation to enter this market, and if the latter does not see profitability for the effort it has to make, we might not see a foldable MacBook or iPad arrive in 2024.
Image Credits - Astropad
News Source: The Elec
