Apple is the only major smartphone maker not to embrace foldables, but that could be about to change.
Anticipation for a folding iPhone or iPad has been mounting after a recent Apple patent pointed to such a device. Analysts believe the tech giant holds the key to mainstream adoption of bendy phones, and suggest a device could arrive as soon as next year.
Now, the company’s main rival claims that an Apple foldable is indeed coming.
In an exclusive chat with the Standard, Samsung’s mobile boss, James Kitto, said that Apple would follow its lead by launching a folding device.
“I think other sizeable brands out there will eventually follow suit [with folding phones],” he said.
In a not so subtle swipe at Apple, Kitto added: “They always lag behind quite significantly in terms of innovation. I’m sure our friends in America will eventually cotton on.
“Maybe they’ll even join the flip side,” he said in reference to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5, which shuts in half like a clam.
The company launched the new phone alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5 on Wednesday at an event in its native South Korea. While foldables have been around for years, thanks in large part to Samsung’s efforts, they have struggled to take hold outside of Asia.
The market for folding phones accounts for 1 per cent of all the smartphones shipped globally in 2023, according to tech research firm Canalys.
Samsung shipped 10 million foldables last year, Kitto said. Sales of its folding smartphones went up by 200 per cent in the UK in 2022 over 2021, he noted.
Still, some believe that only Apple can bring the nascent tech to the masses.
“The moment that Apple decided to launch 5G smartphones, 5G shipments went through the roof,” Francisco Jeronimo told the Standard last October. He reckoned Apple’s theoretical arrival in the foldable space would fuel a similar surge in interest.
Apple has kept mum on the matter so far.
Meanwhile, the tech experts at research firm CCS Insight have suggested that Apple won’t be dipping its toes into foldables until 2024 at the earliest, and even then it will probably be a folding iPad rather than an iPhone Flip.
If Apple wants a slice of the action, it better move fast as Samsung already has bigger plans.
By the end of the decade, smartphones will come in a range of form factors beyond foldables and flat phones, Kitto said, with Samsung leading the charge.
Notably, the company has filed a slew of patents for smartphones with rollable, scrollable and slidable displays.
“The phone won’t just be a monoblock, rectangle or folding,” Kitto said of future devices. “You’ll continue to see innovation [from us].”
