Well since my argument isn’t based on my personal use but the actual market data and yours is based solely on your personal use, therefore meaningless when we are talking about the overall market, your case would lose.
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Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Could Reinvigorate Stalling Market
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Foldable Smartphone Market Size And Share Report, 2030
The global foldable smartphone market size was valued at USD 27.79 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach USD 74.02 billion in 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2024 to 2030
1. Most people don’t consider most phones huge. They come in multiple sizes and people can already pick which one they want.
2. Except they don’t “halve the footprint” because the overall phone still takes up space when folded, now it’s just twice as thick, AND you’ve introduced numerous downsides in order to create that foldable phone such as decreased durability, a crease, non-standard sizes that waste space, more mechanical parts which increase the cost, non-glass screens, etc.
And when you want to use the phone you still have the same footprint as before, so you didn’t even solve the problem.
If these devices were the miracle you say they are, why is almost nobody buying one? Why is the market for them shrinking?
A forecast from some random site is not data, it’s guessing. We have the ACTUAL data from the time when foldables debuted until now, actual data that shows the market shrinking.Foldable Smartphone Market Size And Share Report, 2030
The global foldable smartphone market size was valued at USD 27.79 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach USD 74.02 billion in 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2024 to 2030www.grandviewresearch.com
But that’s not even relevant because the argument you made was that people would buy foldables at the same rate as non-foldables if the price was the same, and nothing on the article you linked to says that.
I have seen a few of my friends and colleagues with Samsung folding phones that eventually developed screen issues. One had a galaxy fold (not sure which generation) where its screen went completely blank right after she returned from an overseas trip (I guess she was lucky her phone did not fail her while she was still overseas). She subsequently switched to the non-folding Samsung flagship.
Another had a galaxy flip and the screen started flickering less than a year into ownership. She had the screen replaced, but shortly also switched to the S24 shortly after.
I guess Samsung can't really complain because they are overall fans of Samsungs and haven't switched to another brand, but I can tell that their attitudes towards folding phones have pretty much soured after those experiences and they won't be trying them out again anytime soon, if ever.
I suppose the squarish display of the galaxy fold makes it better suited to reading documents and viewing photos, and I guess there is some appeal to a small tablet that can be folded up and kept in your pocket. I do not deny that it can be a boon in the right hands, and I am not convinced that there is that large a market for these users, compared to simply getting an iPhone and an iPad mini.
I understand that there is a difference between shipments and actual sales. For a company like Samsung, they like to quote units shipped, but just because I ship 10 million folding smartphones to retailers doesn't mean that I actually end up selling that many of them.
You tackle a saturated iPhone market with higher prices, more accessories and services, not necessarily with the addition of a niche product category.
With regards to the galaxy flip, I am not seeing the point of a smartphone that becomes thicker when I fold it. It just means I have a harder time fitting it into my pants pocket. Maybe you can argue that women have an easier time placing it in their handbags or hanging it around their neck, and why would Apple design a product that instantly alienates half their user base?
Second, all other things equal, an iPhone that can be unfolded into a thinner tablet means less space available for a better camera, and potentially less battery life.
I suspect that the real value of folding displays is not in making already small, non-folding devices thicker (aka phones), but in improving larger devices that already fold, such as laptops. Right now, this feels like a classic case of engineering-led product design. A company came across a product (folding screens), and are now desperately trying to find a legitimate use case for it so all that R&D doesn't just get flushed down the toilet.
We see the rumour of Apple releasing a folding being parroted all the way back from 2022. I just don't see it happening. I could very well be wrong, but the concept of a folding phone just seems to go against so many of Apple's design tenets (fewer moving parts, for one).
These topics come along every so often, but there is no solid evidence that Apple is making a foldable.
I find foldables too thick to comfortably fit into my jeans pocket, so I will not be buying.
I find foldables too thick to comfortably fit into my jeans pocket, so I will not be buying.
Foldable phones are still a solution looking for a problem.
I’m sure Apple’s folding phone will be as good or better than the competition, but I just don’t see how buyers, no matter how bedazzled they are by the “hey look! It folds!,” buzz will flock to a phone that has such an impossible-to-strengthen point of wear and failure.
It will be a low volume, high price novelty for, let’s say……unlikable people.
I’m sure Apple’s folding phone will be as good or better than the competition, but I just don’t see how buyers, no matter how bedazzled they are by the “hey look! It folds!,” buzz will flock to a phone that has such an impossible-to-strengthen point of wear and failure.
It will be a low volume, high price novelty for, let’s say……unlikable people.
There’s not much left to do design-wise with smartphones. The flat rectangle with a full-face screen is pretty much set, like the way almost all passenger vehicles have 4 wheels.
It just is the “right” design.
One day a new small personal communication/computer/camera/etc thingy will change the game, but this (folding phone) ain’t it.
To me, a foldable phone is useless. In a pocket, it will look like a big square bump; the current thin slate format fits better. A foldable phone is more of a source of additional potential failing points.
I don’t see it as a real need, it’s more of a show off item.
I don’t see it as a real need, it’s more of a show off item.
iPhone Air: budget iPhone with just one rear camera.
iPhone: premium iPhone with no numbers (17; 18; 19) nor sub-names (mini; Max) in three sizes; small, medium and large. Dump the "Touch Bar" camera control gimmick.
iPhone Ultra: iPhone with a professional camera with magnetic lenses made by traditional lens makers, and a battery at least 75% larger than premium iPhone for pro field photography work and filmmaking. It would have rugged camera controls that stick of the device like Apple Watch Ultra that can be felt easily and are sized to work well with gloves. Available in two screen sizes; big and massive. Designed as the first iPhone that truly doesn't need a case. Robust physical design, with battery life that goes forever. Designed for pros and amateur creatives who want crazy-long battery life and the best smartphone camera system. Magnetic lenses sold separately can be swapped for different shots and different use cases, allowing the phone to be used professionally and personally. With no magnetic lenses attached the camera is equal to the premium iPhone in the segment below.
Expensive folding iPhone: nah
iPhone: premium iPhone with no numbers (17; 18; 19) nor sub-names (mini; Max) in three sizes; small, medium and large. Dump the "Touch Bar" camera control gimmick.
iPhone Ultra: iPhone with a professional camera with magnetic lenses made by traditional lens makers, and a battery at least 75% larger than premium iPhone for pro field photography work and filmmaking. It would have rugged camera controls that stick of the device like Apple Watch Ultra that can be felt easily and are sized to work well with gloves. Available in two screen sizes; big and massive. Designed as the first iPhone that truly doesn't need a case. Robust physical design, with battery life that goes forever. Designed for pros and amateur creatives who want crazy-long battery life and the best smartphone camera system. Magnetic lenses sold separately can be swapped for different shots and different use cases, allowing the phone to be used professionally and personally. With no magnetic lenses attached the camera is equal to the premium iPhone in the segment below.
Expensive folding iPhone: nah
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How much change are you expecting? a shoe phone? It cannot be round or square. that would be ergonomically unpractical.
We would like to hear more when these companies stop releasing updates and improvements for your phones. I used to have HTC phones. All these companies may make great phones, but they have no loyalty to their users. Once a new model comes out they will abandon the previous ones.
Foldable market is fail, not practical, crease will be ugly, fragile, no IP certification ….until Apple releases the foldable, then the song will be different here! Same was with AMOLED screens earlier, RAM, Camera bump, notch etc…
It's not that a foldable iPhone will fail in the market, as influencers will have a hard-on for them as a means to create content and will push the crap out of the product, but that, for me, I don't want one. Would much rather see Apple focus their iPhone engineering efforts elsewhere, and streamline their lineup of phones: Air, iPhone, Ultra
Even if I never bought an iPhone Ultra that looked like a big Apple Watch, I'd rather see Apple focus on doing something like that: a rugged slab iPhone with true physical, tactile camera controls like an old-school camera, a HUGE chonky battery, true professional camera lenses, and giant screen with practicality, ruggedness, battery life and field work in mind.
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Totally agree - I had the Razr 40 Ultra was very close to replacing my iPhone 13 Mini with the foldable screen with better "screen real estate" when I needed it. Ended up selling it in the end due to some imperfections such as the haptic engine/motor being weaker that I would prefer and some software imperfections (latency and aesthetics) and traded it for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
That said however the Razr 50 Ultra this year was practically perfect with the crease handled even better and nearly unnoticeable, and the taptics has become much stronger in comparison as well. I would probably buy it in a heartbeat if Apple comes up with a foldable phone with the ecosystem integration that comes with it.
(Although personally with my current experience of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I would much prefer a bigger foldable phone from Apple but hey - it's just a wish lol)
A foldable phone only makes sense if folding it out means it's tablet sized. The Air is rumoured to be nothing like that, and I think the Air is probably the new SE.
I remember folks on here saying
Who needs 120hz
LCD is fine OLED isn’t a big deal
All needs more ram
Who needs fast charging
Who needs wireless charging
Will be the same when or if apple releases a foldable.
It’s been proven trying to explain to many on macrumours the benefits of other great tech is pointless as they just see it as pointless all because apple is slow at releasing better technology. It’s no wonder a large majority of android fans think iPhones fans don’t know much about technology and just settle for what apple says. I don’t agree obviously with that but some comments here don’t make it easy to defend that notion
I love my apple products but they have played it safe for years and make tiny upgrades year on year. Android brands are at least making tech fun and offering great technology. Foldables are great tech no matter how much many apple fans are in denial about that.
Slab phones have become boring as hell. It’s not until you use other devices that you realize it’s true. Apple intelligence has great potential but just so damn slow to be rolled out which again is apple just taking their time when others are ahead of the game
The solution would be an operating system and subsequent app guidelines that favour one-handed use rather than putting things out of reach of your thumbs. iOS and Android are in a terrible state of ergonomics. Making phones that collapse in on themselves does little to alleviate their inherent design flaws. If 100% of phone interactions were in the bottom half of a Flip phone it would help.
What the market needs is a company willing to oppose rather than conform in the way Steve Jobs used to do by showing people what they never know they needed rather than giving them what they wanted. Foldable phones are clever pieces of engineering and have their fans but they are not the panacea you might think.
I have bought every new iPhone since the beginning, and also have used the Apple Upgrade Program every year from the beginning. I don't worry about long term durability of anything not keeping a phone more than 1 year, with Apple Care required most repairs should be covered. Therefore a folding iPhone would be no concern to me for the obvious reliability concerns. Not much has been transformative for me recently.
Nanometer chip design... eh ok better battery life, enables Apple Intelligence? far from intelligent yet. New camera button? Tried it for a while, almost never use it. I have zero interest in a folding iPhone.
How about this? Turn the Apple icon on the back of the phone into a capacitive touch trackpad so I can hold my phone in one hand and scroll up and down or swipe left and right with the same hand without destabilizing my hold of the phone trying to use my thumb ineffectively. Double tap on the phone back through accessibility works great to get into App Switcher... but when in it, we need a single tap to select the app to go into. Paired with a capacitive touch Apple icon I can double tap to get into app switcher, swipe left / right or up to remove, and singe tap to select. In apps I can scroll... all with one hand. I'll take this over the camera button or a folding design any day
Nanometer chip design... eh ok better battery life, enables Apple Intelligence? far from intelligent yet. New camera button? Tried it for a while, almost never use it. I have zero interest in a folding iPhone.
How about this? Turn the Apple icon on the back of the phone into a capacitive touch trackpad so I can hold my phone in one hand and scroll up and down or swipe left and right with the same hand without destabilizing my hold of the phone trying to use my thumb ineffectively. Double tap on the phone back through accessibility works great to get into App Switcher... but when in it, we need a single tap to select the app to go into. Paired with a capacitive touch Apple icon I can double tap to get into app switcher, swipe left / right or up to remove, and singe tap to select. In apps I can scroll... all with one hand. I'll take this over the camera button or a folding design any day
I agree. from my post just above:
How about this? Turn the Apple icon on the back of the phone into a capacitive touch trackpad so I can hold my phone in one hand and scroll up and down or swipe left and right with the same hand without destabilizing my hold of the phone trying to use my thumb ineffectively. Double tap on the phone back through accessibility works great to get into App Switcher... but when in it, we need a single tap to select the app to go into. Paired with a capacitive touch Apple icon I can double tap to get into app switcher, swipe left / right or up to remove, and singe tap to select. In apps I can scroll... all with one hand. I'll take this over the camera button or a folding design any day
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For a foldable iPhone, I'd recommend Apple Care for sure.