Back in March, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple is working on its first foldable iPhone that is supposed to be introduced in 2023. In a new investor note shared on Monday obtained by 9to5Mac, Kuo reinforces the rumors about a foldable iPhone, now saying that the company expects to ship up to 20 million units of this model in its first year of sales.
Based on sources, Kuo says that Apple expects to ship between 15 to 20 million of the foldable iPhone in 2023. The company will likely work with Samsung as the exclusive supplier of foldable OLED displays for the new iPhone model, whose design and specifications remain unknown.
In his previous report on the first foldable iPhone, the analyst predicted that the device will have a screen between 7.5 and 8 inches, and now he reinforced that Apple will adopt an 8-inch foldable display. Although Samsung currently leads the foldable market, Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple will have an advantage with the first foldable iPhone due to its strong “cross-product ecosystem.”
At present, the product position of foldable smartphones is mainly to integrate the smartphone and tablet. But we believe that the foldable smartphone is only one of the applications of the foldable design. We predict that foldable devices will blur the product segmentations between smartphones, tablets, and laptops in the future. With its cross-product ecosystems and hardware design advantages, Apple will be the biggest winner in the new foldable device trend.
These plans, of course, may change by 2023, but it seems plausible that Apple is at least considering launching a foldable iPhone as other phone makers have already introduced their own solutions. Still, we don’t know if the device will be more similar to the Galaxy Z Fold or the Galaxy Z Flip — or even have a completely different design than the current foldable phones.
Read also:
- Kuo: Apple could launch 8-inch foldable iPhone and notch-less iPhone in 2023
- YouTuber pairs folding display w/ Raspberry Pi to imagine what a foldable iPhone looks like [Video]
- Kuo: iPhone 13 series to feature smaller notch, 120Hz display, larger batteries, more
- iPhone 13 Pro replacement ditching notch with ‘punch-hole’ display, 5G iPhone SE next year
- Kuo: iPhone 13 will be available in 5.4-inch ‘mini’ form factor
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