By Aditya Soni
Sept 9 (Reuters) - The first iPhone in 2007 mainstreamed touch-screen technology, years after it was developed. Now Apple is betting its maiden foldable phone can do the same for a format stuck in a niche despite years of efforts from Samsung and Chinese rivals like Huawei.
The foldable iPhone, expected to be unveiled at Apple's Cupertino headquarters later on Wednesday, marks one of the biggest changes to the flagship device that brings in around half of the company's revenue and has
made it a global technology giant.
Despite attracting attention with their large screen size, foldable phones have only secured a single-digit percentage share of the overall global smartphone market due to trade-offs — including inferior cameras, a shorter battery life and an awkward crease at the screen center once the handsets are unfolded.
But analysts have said Apple, known for grabbing the second-mover advantage by learning from rivals' mistakes, will likely benefit from supply-chain and technological advances that have made foldables more durable and less prone to creasing.
Samsung's latest Fold 8 device, for instance, features a design that has significantly reduced the crease, thanks to years of investment in the technology.
Here's a brief timeline of foldables ahead of Apple's event:
EARLY STRUGGLES, BIG SAMSUNG GOOF-UP (2018-2021)
Foldable phone concepts have been around for decades, but Chinese display maker Royole is credited with shipping the first such device in 2018. Its FlexPai phone, with a 7.8-inch outward-folding screen, was widely panned for clunky software and crude plastic hinges.
Months later, Samsung raised fresh fears about reliability and pricing with the $2,000 Galaxy Fold, the category's first mass-market product. Reviewers, including Marques Brownlee, reported broken screens, with some peeling a protective layer that resembled a screen protector but wasn't in a debacle dubbed "foldgate". Samsung delayed the launch and retrieved all sample devices.
The period also saw competing visions over the best shape for a foldable. The Galaxy Fold targeted customers with its inward-folding screen that expanded into a small tablet, while Motorola revived its iconic Razr in late 2019 with a clamshell design that folded a normal-size phone in half.
Huawei's Mate X, also released in 2019, folded outward and wrapped a single screen around the outside of the device, while Microsoft in 2020 skipped a flexible screen and joined two separate displays with a hinge in its Surface Duo. The Windows maker has since discontinued the devices.
SLOW MARCH TO MAINSTREAM (2022-2026)
Alphabet-owned Google entered the market in 2023 with its $1,799 Pixel Fold, a passport-shaped device whose wider, shorter screen opened closer to a mini tablet. Meanwhile, Samsung and its Chinese rivals delivered steady improvements to foldables until the next big leap arrived in 2024 with tri-folds.
Huawei launched the first such device in September that year at $2,800, which could fold three ways like an accordion and became an instant best-seller. Samsung launched its own multi-folding smartphone in December 2025.
Today, Samsung leads the global foldable phone market with a share of about 40%, followed by Huawei with a 30% share, according to research firm Counterpoint.
The passport shape, meanwhile, has become a dividing line.
Google abandoned the design after 2023 while Samsung used it for one of its latest devices. Apple is expected to adopt the shape as it is geared more toward video and other media consumption rather than a taller, book-style phone built for productivity.
The passport shape's wider proportions sit closer to the native aspect ratio of most video, shrinking the black bars that frame footage on taller, book-style devices.
Analysts expect Apple's entry into the category would accelerate its growth, with IDC estimating that foldable phone shipments would increase nearly 30% this year, outperforming an estimated decline of nearly 1.4% in non-foldable smartphones.
"Apple's entry will surely increase competition at the premium end. However, foldables are still a very small part of the overall smartphone market, so there is room for the category to grow well beyond current volumes," said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
