Apple’s September launch event brought some decent updates to the iPhone 15 Pro line, including titanium designs and USB-C. The Pro Max even got a longer 5x zoom lens. But we didn’t get a folding iPhone. At least, not one you can fold without snapping it in half and ruining it. But with many mobile firms including Samsung, Google and OnePlus now selling folding devices, it’s beginning to feel like Apple is late to the party. And that might be a problem.Â
Apple dominates in the premium phone category, but foldables — which very much fit into the premium space in terms of price — are already nipping at its heels, with Motorola telling CNET that 20% of customers buying its Razr foldable jumped ship from Apple. Meanwhile, Samsung is in its fifth generation of its Flip and Fold series. and as CNET Editor Lisa Eadicicco found out in a visit to Seoul, South Korea, “foldables are everywhere.”Â
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With both Google and OnePlus getting in on the foldable phone game this year, Apple runs the risk of not just losing out on potential customers, but allowing rivals like Samsung to become the go-to name for the category, which could make it harder for Apple to make an impact if it eventually launches its own folding product. Furthermore, early foldable adopters attracted by the fancy bending tech may be too entrenched in the Android ecosystem by the time Apple’s phone arrives to want to switch to iOS.Â
But Apple is unlikely to be worried. It’s predicted that around 20 million foldables from all manufacturers will be sold worldwide in 2023, while Apple reportedly sold 26.5 million iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets in the first half of the year alone. Clearly, Apple knows it has yet to miss the boat.Â
Apple has always found success in biding its time, observing the industry and launching its own…
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