This year, despite the launch of new foldable devices such as the world's first tri-folding phone, the Huawei Mate XT, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Special Edition in South Korea and Samsung W25 in China, the foldable shipments fell by 1% year-over-year (YoY) in Q3 2024. This marks the first decline in the third quarter of foldable shipments for the past six years.
Now, a new Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) report is live online, suggesting that the foldable smartphone display market has stalled and saw a dip for the first time in Q3 2024. It predicts that 2025 could follow a similar trend, with the market expected to decrease. DSCC notes that the demand for foldable displays has stalled at 22 million panels, and the "smartphone display procurement was down 38% Y/Y in Q3’24 and is expected to be down Y/Y in four of the next five quarters."
While the report outlines multiple reasons, the main problem appears to be the underwhelming performance of foldables from Samsung, the undisputed king in this segment. Huawei's performance was also down, with its shares plunging from 30% in Q2 2024 to 13% in 2024. One of the main reasons is speculated to be the absence of a third player in the market that could challenge Samsung and Huawei, which suggests that Apple's foldable may disrupt the category.
Apple has been long rumored to be working on a folding iPhone, with its patent surfacing back in May 2024. A new report also emerged suggesting that Apple has assigned Samsung to supply displays for its foldable devices. While there was a rumor that Apple would not launch a folding iPhone until it sorts out the display crease issue, the company is allegedly going ahead with its plan of a folding iPhone with a clamshell design in 2026.
The DSCC report also corroborates the claim that Apple could enter the foldable smartphone market in H2 of 2026. It adds that "their dominant position in flagship smartphones could generate significant growth for the foldable smartphone market. Any improvement in form factor, functionality, use cases, durability, etc., could drive new demand for this market."
Apple wants to introduce some technological uniqueness with its folding iPhone before entering the market in 2026, for which it is exploring various options. The supply chain report suggests that with the arrival of Apple's folding iPhone, "2026 is expected to be a record year for foldables with over 30% growth and with over 20% growth projected for 2027 and 2028." Additionally, Apple is also rumored to be exploring a new foldable laptop segment.
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