Foldable iPad could arrive first in 2024 before Apple introduces an iPhone with a folding display, analyst group says

The market reach of devices with foldable displays continues to expand, and Apple is expected to join the race in a few years. Instead of starting with a foldable iPhone, however, an analyst group believes the tech giant will prioritize launching a foldable iPad as soon as 2024.

The forecast comes from CCS Insight's annual report (via CNBC) published on Tuesday, where it predicts Apple to launch a foldable iPad in a matter of two years. The analyst group also suggests the iPhone maker will start testing foldable displays soon.

CCS Insight chief of research Ben Wood told CNBC that launching a foldable iPhone would be risky for Apple and predicts the product would have to be priced as much as $2,500 so that it would not affect sales of the usual iPhone models released annually. The analyst group then believes that it would make more sense for Apple to introduce a foldable iPad first.

Samsung was the first major brand to bring foldable smartphones to the global market and has updated its Galaxy Z series with two new devices with different form factors annually since 2020. Throughout that time (and likely to this day), foldable smartphones are still viewed as niche products primarily due to their cost. But Samsung declared in July that foldable smartphones are going mainstream, as it announced that it had already shipped nearly 10 million units of Galaxy Z-series phones at the time. The South Korean tech giant released Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 last August.

While the mainstream status of foldable devices may still be debatable, analysts believe that Apple will be obligated "to react" to the rising popularity of foldable devices. But, as stated in their report, the company may do it differently by launching a foldable iPad first.

This is not the first time tech fans have heard about Apple's plans to apply foldable display tech in its future products. Display Supply Chain Consultants said in a report published last February that Apple was considering the development of "foldable notebooks" with an overall screen size of 20 inches (via 9To5Mac). Bloomberg's Mark Gurman later cited this information in his Power On newsletter, adding that Apple is also looking into developing a foldable hybrid of MacBook and iPad with a dual-screen.

It is not surprising for Apple to be exploring products with foldable display tech, whether it is for the iPhone or iPad series, although it appears that nothing has been set in stone yet. But what these reports and analyst predictions agree on is that Apple could still be a few years away from introducing its first hardware with a foldable display.

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