iPhone Fold could arrive by 2027, analysts now say

The foldable smartphone market keeps on growing at a much faster pace than the overall smartphone market. So Apple can't stay away from this lucrative market forever, and indeed we've already heard countless rumors about a foldable iPhone coming in the next few years.

Today a new report from TrendForce says Apple is "unlikely to release a foldable phone before 2027", however. The reason has to do with the company's "strict requirements for crease and reliability".

We take that to mean the fact that Apple, unlike Samsung, would like the folding screen to have no crease whatsoever when unfolded. "Reliability" could mean anything, but we may speculate that Apple would like the folding mechanism to keep working for many, many years.

TrendForce analysts say Apple is still "evaluating component specifications and performance" for the first iPhone Fold, and this may of course still take a while. If it's only launching in 2027, as we've heard before, then the actual development will probably only start next year at the earliest, so there's still time for Apple suppliers to match all of its exacting specifications.

In the meantime, Huawei took Samsung's crown to become the No.1 best selling brand globally when it comes to foldable devices in the first quarter of this year, but the Korean company could of course claim the throne back following the launch of its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 next month.

But there's a twist - apparently Huawei is set to launch the world's first tri-fold smartphone in Q3, so between July and September, and that may ruin Samsung's celebrations.

Source