According to various reports, Apple has been working on a foldable iPhone for some time. Now the well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has spoken out again.
Rumors about a foldable iPhone have been with us for many months. Registered Apple patents also confirmed Cupertino's ideas on the subject. Now Kuo explains in a new letter to investors that Apple is working on introducing a foldable iPhone with an 8-inch QHD+ flexible OLED display in 2023.
Based on our recent industry survey, we predict that Apple is likely to launch a foldable iPhone with an 8-inch QHD+ flexible OLED display in 2023, with SDC as the exclusive display supplier and Samsung Foundry as the exclusive DDI provider. Based on Apple's requested capacity plan, we forecast that shipments of the foldable iPhone will reach 15-20 million units in 2023. We expect the foldable iPhone to adopt TPK's silver nanowire touch solution as it has several advantages over SDC's Y-Octa technology.
Foldable iPhone: Apple could be the biggest winner
Kuo predicts that foldable smartphones will become a "must-have" for all major smartphone brands and will drive the next "super replacement cycle" for high-end models. In addition, he believes Apple is well positioned to be the "biggest winner" in the foldable device trend.
At present, the product position of foldable smartphones is mainly the integration of smartphone and tablet. But we believe that the foldable smartphone is only one of the applications of foldable design. We believe that in the future, foldable devices will blur the product segmentations between smartphones, tablets and laptops. With its cross-product ecosystems and hardware design advantages, Apple will be the biggest winner in the new trend of foldable devices.
According to Kuo, the upcoming iPhone could use a silver nanowire touch solution for the device's display, which will give Apple a "long-term competitive advantage" in the foldable device market.
Will Apple solve two of the key problems in time?
This display technology will be needed for future foldable devices that support more than a single fold.
Future foldable devices will need touch technology that supports multiple folds (as opposed to just a single fold in current foldable smartphones), a rollable, medium to large sized display, and a long durability. Comparing the advantages of the above specifications, the silver nanowire is similar or superior to SDC's Y-Octa.
This is not the first time that Kuo has talked about a foldable iPhone. Back in March, the analyst said that Apple is working on a foldable device with a 7.5 to 8-inch display that could be released in 2023. To meet this schedule, Apple however, solve "key problems in technology and mass production." (Photo by artmagination / Bigstockphoto)
