The latest rumors indicate we’re less than a year away from Apple’s first foldable iPhone debuting. And based on recent foldable market trends, it sounds like the iPhone Fold’s launch timing couldn’t be better.
Next year’s iPhone Fold launch will have strong momentum on its side
Apple’s first ever foldable iPhone is currently expected to launch in fall 2026.
It will be a brand new addition to the flagship iPhone lineup, similar to how iPhone Air was this year’s entirely new model.
When the iPhone Fold (or iPhone Ultra, perhaps) arrives, Apple will surely be called “late” to the foldable smartphone market. Samsung, after all, launched its first foldable way back in 2019.
The iPhone Fold will debut a full seven years later. And yet, all signs indicate that Apple’s launch timing couldn’t be better.
Counterpoint Research recently published an overview of the foldable smartphone market, which is having perhaps its first true breakout year.
The US foldable smartphone market is expected to grow 68% YoY in 2025, as it enters a period of solid growth after several years of experimentation
That last word, “experimentation,” is a more positive way of saying that the market has struggled of late.
For the first several years of foldables’ availability, analysts expected significant growth, but consumers didn’t seem all that thrilled by what was being offered. Thus, foldables remained niche.
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