📱 Have Foldable Phones Become Boring? And Why Is That Good News for Apple?
Quick Tech Summary
In recent years, foldable phones have seen notable progress in durability, design, battery technology, and improved screen and camera quality. Prices have fallen somewhat, and designs have expanded to include models such as TriFold phones. However, despite all these improvements, foldable phones have not yet become a mainstream market category, as they account for only a small share of approximately 1.6% of smartphone sales. In the midst of this landscape, Apple is preparing to launch its first foldable iPhone, which could represent a major turning point in this sector.
⚙️ A Difficult Start and a Maturing Phase for Foldable Phones
Despite the common belief that Samsung was the pioneer in the foldable phone market, the first phones of this kind came from Royole with its FlexPai release, which was described as quite “bad.” This was followed by Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, which suffered many malfunctions that affected the credibility of foldable phones in their early days.
Those technical failures led other companies, such as Huawei, to delay their releases because of unfamiliar designs or technical problems that appeared with the first models.
🔋 Tangible Progress in Design and Performance
As the foldable phone journey continued, things began to improve:
- Phones became lighter and thinner.
- The visibility and length of the crease on the screen decreased significantly, as technologies such as Polymer UV Hardened 3D printing technology began to be used to make folds nearly invisible.
- Durability improved greatly; for example, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold received an IP68 rating, then the Honor Magic V6 achieved an even higher IP69 rating, which is nearly the highest resistance smartphones can get.
- Batteries evolved thanks to Silicon-carbon battery technology, which provides more power in a smaller size, enabling larger battery capacities that offer two or more days of use.
Important Point
Foldable phones are now about as thick as traditional phones when closed, removing many of the concerns related to weight and size that previously made consumers hesitant.
📸 Camera Challenges
Despite progress in design and performance, cameras in foldable phones still lag behind the best traditional Ultra slab phones in quality. Triple rear cameras have appeared in phones from Oppo and Vivo that offer reasonable quality, but they still trail the best cameras in regular phones. This is due to design constraints and the available space in foldable phones, which prevent the integration of advanced and complex camera systems with superior performance.
🧠 Market Direction and New Models
The foldable phone market is still small, with its share reaching about 1.6% of the total smartphone market in 2025. But there is steady variety in designs:
- The traditional categories are divided between small flip phones and book-style phones.
- Companies have started introducing multi-fold models (TriFold) such as Huawei’s Mate XT and Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold.
- Recent trends are moving toward widening the display, with design changes aimed at making phones broader and more solid.
Although some models such as the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold did not last long in the market, Huawei has seen good demand for its tri-fold phones, which may push the company to continue down this path.
Quick Takeaway
Despite design innovations, foldable phones are still considered a specialized product appealing only to a certain group of users who love modern technology.
🍏 Apple’s Entry and Its Potential Impact on the Market
The most prominent event in the foldable phone scene in the coming period is Apple’s preparation to launch its first foldable iPhone. It is expected to be unveiled alongside the iPhone 18 Pro next month, and it will run an iOS version modified to suit the larger screen and new usage patterns, although it will not offer the full multitasking found in iPadOS.
Analyst expectations indicate that Apple could capture between a quarter and a third of the value market for foldable phones in its first year of launch.
Why Is This Important?
Apple’s entry into this sector could be the spark that turns foldable phones from a specialized product into the mainstream, especially given its ability to attract iOS fans who have been waiting for a foldable phone that supports its ecosystem.
📈 Clear Effects Even Before Launch
Even before the foldable iPhone appears, signs of the new trend have already begun to emerge in the market one after another:
- Phone designs have become wider and shorter, resembling what Apple is planning, such as the Huawei Pura X Max and the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
- Companies such as Oppo and Honor are preparing to launch similar wide-fold models.
- The question remains about the future of the TriFold design, especially after Samsung’s early withdrawal from this market, while Huawei appears determined to continue pushing this design.
What Changed Here?
It is no longer just a phone that folds; designs are now more varied and better in usability, with more advanced screen technologies, which signals the beginning of a new era for the foldable smartphone.
🤔 Will Foldable Phones Achieve Wide Adoption?
Foldable phones have become a mature technology and offer an experience no less good than traditional phones, while also delivering unique advantages in form and functionality. Improved durability, better screens, and battery development are all positive factors.
But price remains a major barrier. With Apple’s expected entry, foldable phones are likely to remain in the premium segment of the market, thanks to the high prices Apple itself imposes.
Important Point
Even if the market expands with Apple’s entry, the question remains whether enough users are truly willing to pay large sums for the folding feature, or whether most consumers prefer ordinary traditional phones.
🔮 Future Outlook: Will Rollable Phones Take Their Turn?
Despite the progress in the traditional foldable format, there are early experiments with stretchable and rollable phones, which represent a more ambitious design.
- Companies such as Lenovo have already begun offering devices with flexible displays and stretchable screens.
- Forecasts suggest that companies may wait several years until this technology matures and becomes commercially available.
Therefore, although foldable phones have become more mature today, the user experience of rollable phones may remain the next future in the world of smartphones.
Conclusion
Ultimately, foldable phones, after a difficult start, have reached a stage of maturity in design and performance, but they have not yet spread as a common consumer habit. Apple’s entry into this field with a foldable iPhone could be the major catalyst for changing the landscape. Challenges remain in cost and camera experience, but with ongoing technical improvements, especially in battery life and durability, 2024 points to the beginning of a new era for foldable smartphones. Will this category succeed in reaching the mainstream? The coming days will answer that.
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