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Huawei Aims to Upstage Sep 9 Apple Event With Tri-Fold Phone Debut

Unregistered 4U said:
Apple’s still on track to sell over 200 million non-folding phones a year. All companies making folding phones COMBINED may sell 30 million. That wouldn’t even cover the drop in shipments. And, with Apple’s lucrative side-step into services, they can better make up the shortfall in cash from phones there.
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The critical statistic is rate of growth not total sales numbers.

www.wired.com

The Time Is Right for a Folding iPhone

If Apple really does come out with a foldable smartphone, it’ll be late to the party—but will somehow arrive just as the real fun is starting.
www.wired.com www.wired.com
 
Unregistered 4U said:
Apple’s problem is that WHATEVER they release, it has to be able to be manufactured at a rate of around 100 million a year. In 2023, almost 19 million folding phones across all makers were shipped. It remains to be seen if any single manufacturing process can even ship 20 million of ONE of those variants in a year.
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They could introduce a new flagship above the pro lineup to showcase what they’re capable of and what their future holds.

Instead they chose to introduce the same as the years old iPhone 12 with some minor tweaks here and there.

In the meantime other brands take advantage and leapfrog Apple not only in design but possibilities too.

Huawei isn’t a small phone maker and is able to produce them in mass.

speaking of not being able to produce them in high numbers… same should hold true for Mac’s, iPads and watches. Those numbers aren’t that big and I haven’t see any breathtaking new innovations there either.
 
currentinterest said:
Apple will introduce a folding iPhone when it will last for years and be able to be manufactured in volumes Apple products require. Their products must be criteria, smaller vendors do not face.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Samsung and Huawei larger than Apple? If that's the case then it can be said Apple's products must meet certain criteria that the larger vendors do not need to worry as much about?

lindros2 said:
How does iMessage work on it? This is MACrumors not ANDROIDrumors or PRC_PLArumors.

And FYI Huawei is banned by the US Federal Government:

Section 889

Section 889
www.ndia.org www.ndia.org
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Been using iMessage just fine on my Android phones for the last 8 months via BlueBubbles.

Aside from security risks, it's also largely a financial concern that would affect the other suppliers. Same thing with EV cars made in China. If allowed in the U.S., they would obliterate Tesla. If Oppo, Xiaomi, Huawei all had a presence in the U.S., Apple / Google / Samsung profits would plummet. Don't fool yourself into believing that the U.S. and other companies are purely focused on "security."
 
Harry Haller said:
Excellent point.
Hope Tim got the memo.

"Analytics firm Counterpoint Research reports that the folding phone market grew by 49 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2024, its highest rate of increase in six quarters. Shipments of iPhones were down 13 percent in the first quarter year over year, so a folding iPhone just might be what Apple needs to boost sales."

www.wired.com

The Time Is Right for a Folding iPhone

If Apple really does come out with a foldable smartphone, it’ll be late to the party—but will somehow arrive just as the real fun is starting.
www.wired.com www.wired.com
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I like how there are no numbers in this article just percentages.
 
Harthag said:
Apple is secure because Tim and the U.S. government says so...
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As much as Big Tech and our government being in bed together concerns me, it doesn't even hold a candle to what the commies are doing but you go ahead and cozy up to them if you want. What's the worst that could happen?
 
FineWoven said:
As much as Big Tech and our government being in bed together concerns me, it doesn't even hold a candle to what the commies are doing but you go ahead and cozy up to them if you want. What's the worst that could happen?
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Not all Chinese people are members of the CCP...I've sold my soul to Google long ago and have nothing to hide. I have a 10 year Chinese visa, they already have my passport. Again, let them pry. Nothing to hide. Love all tech. My info was already stolen by at&t, T-Mobile breaches, among other U.S. company breaches. I just assume all of my data is out there while being as cautious as I can be.
 
Gengar said:
LMAO. At what point do you just carry your iPad and call it a day?
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I have since iPad Mini 2... using VOIP app and buds to make it double as my iPhone. IMO, pretty much ALL apps are better with more screen R.E... which- I suspect- is why everyone- including Apple- keep trying to grow mobile screen sizes.

The biggest thing iPhone has that cellular iPad mini doesn't that I really desire: pocket-ability. A foldable iPad to become pocketable is a very desirable product IMO: the best of both worlds.

With this kind of product thinking, it appears they are attempting to put something more like a cellular iPad Air-sized device in a pocket: little phablet screen for basic phone/texting needs and pocket ability... folding out to big tablet screen whenever one needs/wants a bigger screen for all other apps.

But somehow, it's better to carry TWO of all of the component parts in TWO devices: 2 rear cameras, 2 front-facing cameras, 2 batteries, 2 cases, 2 sets of speakers, etc. Apparently, this company is attempting to see if they can build something to share all that duplication in a SINGLE device without all of that redundancy. More power to them. I hope it is a great device that proves very popular. Maybe success will move Apple to think beyond growing "the precious" by a few mm and offering a new color.
 
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iMac The Knife said:
I've owned the Z Fold 3, 4, 5, 6, the Z Flip 4, the Pixel Fold, and the OnePlus Open...with my Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V3 Global arriving tomorrow
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i'm not immune to making unnecessary purchases, but i gotta say, there is something deeply wrong with the way our society has conditioned our consumerism.
 
It’s like people here don’t know how Apple operates after all these years.
Something already has to have mass appeal and adoption for Apple to come in with their solution. Foldable aren’t there yet.
I am sure there’s an R&D department tinkering with it as we speak. But nothing close to presentable. (Maybe) in 4 years at the earliest.
 
spazzcat said:
Not really. The demand even in Android land is very low.
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Most Android devices sold globally are devices like the A15, not the S24. If you only count premium handsets, then the mix of foldables is much larger than it would appear just by looking at global data.
 
iMac The Knife said:
Which folding phones have you owned? I've owned the Z Fold 3, 4, 5, 6, the Z Flip 4, the Pixel Fold, and the OnePlus Open...with my Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V3 Global arriving tomorrow. I've never had an issue with the inner or outer display on any of the foldables I've owned and I don't even put a case on them. Also, the crease is as close to invisible on phones like the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V3 as physics will allow at this point. It's really not a crease on these phones, because if you took the display off there would be no bend in the display. There is a very slight valley, I guess I would call it, running up the middle of the display where there is no hardware behind it like there is under the rest of the inner display. There is nothing anyone can do about that at this time. Someday, maybe, but I'm not sure how they can get hardware behind the screen in the middle and still allow it to fold without damage. You'd have to implement a tiny piston system that could push a plate or some other piece of hardware up to prevent the valley. The squeeze wouldn't be worth the juice here in my opinion, because I never notice this valley on my OnePlus Open.
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So nine phones in three years ? You really tested their durability ............
 
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brofkand said:
Most Android devices sold globally are devices like the A15, not the S24. If you only count premium handsets, then the mix of foldables is much larger than it would appear just by looking at global data.
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Its hard to find premium numbers, but I did find this ... I have a hard time believing foldables will jump to 33% in two years when they are only at 1.3% now ...

In a report published late last year, the research firm estimated that consumers bought about 16 million foldables during 2023. That represented about 1.3% of all smartphone sales. According to Counterpoint, foldable devices’ share of the premium smartphone market could jump to about 33% by 2027.
https://siliconangle.com/2024/01/02...les-grew-6-2023-apples-market-share-declined/
 
AZFalconi said:
Seeing as the market for folding phones grew almost 50% over the past year I’d say they are doing fine, but it doesn’t fit a triggered apple fans agenda like yours so it makes sense
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The tiny market grew by 50%, so 10 to 15. Better make tri-folding phone. What about my comment triggering the folding phone market. Getting lots of comments about how people are seeing so many in the wild, yet very few owners, themselves.
 
brofkand said:
Apple is really missing the boat with foldables just like they missed the boat with AI. The current leadership has no vision. Vision Pro is a dead-end.
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How many people do you see with foldable phones? I just saw in those two years only three people
 
currentinterest said:
Apple will introduce a folding iPhone when it will last for years and be able to be manufactured in volumes Apple products require. Their products must be criteria, smaller vendors do not face.
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Well, everything lower than the iPhone 15 pro is obsolete because they aren’t able to use all the possibilities of iOS 18. That’s a two year old phone.

Which vendors do you mean by smaller vendors?

Since Apple not produces screens on their own it will probably use Samsung or LG screens. They both make them by the masses.

iPhone 16 is already half a Samsung because the screen and most inner parts are made by Samsung.
 
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