Apple Becomes the Only Global Smartphone Brand Without a Foldable Device

Apple is now the only global smartphone brand without a foldable model in its offerings despite all of its competitors joining the trend and the potential that could generate tens of billions of dollars in coming years when developed.

Becoming the Only Brand Without Foldable Models

As Alphabet's Google launched the Pixel Fold during an event on Wednesday and joined other brands to offer foldable devices in its portfolio, Apple is now alone in not offering this kind of device. Bloomberg reported that every major brand running the Android operating system has now adopted the form factor.

Apple only showed little interest in developing its own "foldable device" to market, which is not unusual for the company as it often takes its time before jumping into an established category with a much more polished product. Aside from this, Apple will only have a lesser incentive, knowing that its current lineup dominates the market for premium smartphones.

But through this decision, the Cupertino giant may find itself behind rivals in the future. Despite its tiny fraction in the market, foldable devices usually direct higher prices and open new features that may attract loyal consumers. This will also help lower-tier brands upgrade their offerings into the premium range to keep up with their competitors.

Apple's Strategy

In fact, market observers assume that foldable devices are expected to be the fastest-growing area in an otherwise shrinking smartphone field. But will Apple completely ignore this concept to exclude itself from the market?

Strategy Analytics Research Director Neil Mawston stated that they will only be worried if Apple will not release any foldable models by 2025. This is when the industry revenues will approach tens of billions of dollars and Apple might miss something if it tends to overlook this direction.

"Apple has the power to make or break the future foldable industry," he stated. By launching early with an unready device, foldable devices could trash the whole franchise of Apple, hence why the company is taking its time releasing its own version.

Potential Release

There is still a chance for Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone as the United States Patent Office published a rewarded patent to the tech giant for a display with touch sensors. The patent application is titled "Self-Retracting Display Device And Techniques For Protecting Screen Using Drop Detection."

This suggests that the screen may opt to detach from the base chassis which could be accomplished in different ways, including folding at a hinge or pulling the screen out. UBS Analyst David Vogt clarified that there is no indication that this belongs to Apple or that the market will see a foldable iPhone this year.

Vogt added, "We believe that a foldable iPhone model could lead to an uptick in consumer purchasing and upgrade rate within the smartphone segment." As per Yahoo's report, iPhone unit growth could potentially come in at about 238 million estimates in fiscal 2024 if Apple's foldable tiers enter the market.