Apple Can’t Fold a Foldable Phone

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Oct 23, 9:20AM EDT

Quick Read

Rumors hint that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will launch a foldable phone with the iPhone 18 late next year.
It is trying to catch up to archrival Samsung.
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Apple Can’t Fold a Foldable Phone — © Photo by Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Despite all of the excitement about better-than-expected iPhone 17 sales, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) still cannot get the foldable smartphone product right. The project is important because archrival Samsung already has its Galaxy Z Fold7 and Galaxy Z Flip7. These are state-of-the-art smartphones, and Samsung has had a lead for almost a year.

Rumors hint that Apple will launch a foldable phone with the iPhone 18 late next year. However, it is struggling to get a product out the door. The early product from Apple may be a version of the iPad. The developers cannot get its product features right.

According to Bloomberg, “But engineering challenges tied to weight, features and display technology have pushed its potential debut to 2029 or later, according to people familiar with the matter.” That means an iPhone version could come out even later.

Apple’s stock surged on reports of high demand for the iPhone 17 in both China and the United States. Its fast chip and a new camera appear to have driven brisk sales. However, these cannot offset problems with the iPhone. The AI version of its software is not out until next year. It is hard to see what hardware advance of the iPhone 18 will convince people to upgrade. Apple continues to face powerful rivals in the Chinese market, which is the largest smartphone market in the world.

Despite all of the excitement, Apple’s shares are up only 3% this year, compared to 14% for the S&P 500. By contrast, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock is up 25%. Apple is considered an AI laggard. Microsoft is considered an industry leader. And, after the iPhone news, Apple’s stock has traded down.

If Apple is going to have a win next year, it may not be an AI upgrade that gets it there. Most major AI companies already have downloads that are among the most popular apps at Apple’s App Store. In terms of hardware advances, the leading feature is to have one that can fold.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.