A fresh tip from the South Korean supply chain suggests that the first foldable iPhone could be closer to reality.
Korean website The Elec has posted a fresh report claiming that Samsung Display has strengthened its A Business Team with the ability to make foldable displays. This is notable because Samsung’s A Business Team is the internal department that handles demand from Apple, which is Samsung’s biggest customer for OLED screens.
While it’s not yet certain that Apple is developing a foldable iPhone, it would seem strange for Samsung Display to ready its Apple division (for want of a better term) for foldable production if it wasn’t reasonably confident that such capacity would be necessary.
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The report also states that both Samsung Display and its key local rival, LG Display, are developing larger 20-inch foldable panels for Apple.
This isn’t the first that we’ve heard of a potential foldable iPhone. Reliable Apple sources Mark Gurman and Ming-Chi Kuo have separately suggested that Apple is working on a foldable iPhone, with the latter pinning a likely release date to 2025.
Some have suggested that Apple will be arriving to the foldable market way too late. Samsung is the primary mover in this area of market, and it’s half way through its fifth foldable generation right now.
However, the foldable phone market is far from resolved, with a number of technological challenges that still need to be fully addressed, including robustness and proper waterproofing, not to mention those unsightly creases.
Originally posted 2023-12-12 12:56:45.