How Apple’s entry into the foldable market could boost its biggest competitor.
Apple recently unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone. Although it won’t hit stores until next month, the announcement alone was enough to get the smartphone world talking. And while Apple is making its first attempt at the format, others, like Samsung, have been doing this for a while – the original 2019 Galaxy Fold was one of the first mainstream foldable devices.
As it turns out, the iPhone Duo announcement can also be a positive for competing devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It’s not like Samsung is celebrating the Duo, but the hype around it will ultimately draw more attention to the foldable category as a whole.
The iPhone Duo sparked more interest in foldable phones
Samsung currently leads the foldable device segment, but that market share doesn’t even come close to conventional smartphones. IDC estimates that about 20.6 million foldable phones were shipped last year, but that’s only a fraction of the total smartphone market. Global smartphone shipments reached 1.25 billion last year, which gives an idea of how niche the foldable phone market still is. But the iPhone Duo has the potential to change that, and we’re already seeing the first effects.
Recent reports suggest that more people will buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 after the announcement of the iPhone Duo. It’s possible that people are finally paying attention to foldables, or maybe enthusiasts want to try the form factor before the iPhone Duo goes on sale. Either way, Samsung is well aware of this, and has already lowered the price of its foldable phones in some markets. This is just one of many examples of how competition ultimately benefits consumers.
With Apple now in the race, other players will have to raise their game to compete. The result will be more available options and possibly wider prices as well. There is only one iPhone Duo for now, but Samsung, for example, already has several foldables available. These range from the relatively affordable Galaxy Z Flip7 FE to the stylish and expensive Z Fold 8 Ultra. Eventually, the competition may even push Apple to make a cheaper iPhone Duo model.
Phone manufacturers should give folding more attention
There is also an advantage on the hardware and software side. Even though foldable phones are no longer a novelty, Apple has shown how it always finds a way to keep up. For example, the company has not completely solved the screen cracking problem, but it looks significantly less noticeable on the iPhone Duo thanks to a matte nano-textured layer. There is little doubt that other flip phone manufacturers will soon follow suit.
The same applies to the new user interface designed specifically for the iPhone Duo. It’s still iOS, but clearly designed for a device that can be used in multiple layouts — folded, unfolded, or half-open. Many current foldable devices simply stretch or shrink the same interface across all screens, which ends up looking unfinished. Also, there are already developers porting the iPhone Duo’s opening and closing animation to Android. It’s not hard to imagine this becoming an industry standard before long.
So yes, Apple wasn’t the first to make a foldable phone, and you might not even want to buy one. But this entry will likely end up shaping the entire foldable market.