- Apple is forecasting up to 10 millions of units to be shipped in 2026.
- This marks a massive uptick from earlier predictions of 6 million units, both as per Kuo.
- Apple will be competing against mightiest in the foldable smartphone category against Samsung, Xiaomi and others.
You are not alone waiting for the first-ever Apple iPhone Fold, and in fact, Apple seems to be anticipating a lot of takers and thus has significantly increased the shipment projections. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the shipment predictions for foldable iPhones have been raised to 8-10 million units for 2026, while the number goes around 20-25 million in 2025.
Apple iPhone Fold is expecting to attract huge footfall of buyers
Apple is launching its much-anticipated foldable iPhone on September 9th at the Awe Dropping event. Although the entire iPhone 17 lineup is seeing much demand ahead of launch, there’s a strong possibility that you might run out of available iPhone Fold units if you don’t hurry.
The Cupertino giant has raised the forecasts for Apple iPhone Fold from 6-8 million units in 2026 to a whopping 8-10 million units. That’s around a 33.33% jump from the previous forecasts, and that’s huge. If that wasn’t the only projection available, we are seeing a heavy shipment projection of 20-25 million units in 2027, compared to 10-15 million units that were expected to be sold earlier. That’s almost double the previous expectations, marking a substantial growth in the numbers.
Apple iPhone Fold has been awaited for years. The first commercially available foldable phone – Samsung Galaxy Fold, was launched in 2018-19, and that is more than half a decade old. We just had the Galaxy Fold7, and there’s heavy competition in terms of foldable phones from various brands, including Oppo, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei, among others.
Apple’s move highlights how the Cupertino giant contemplates the ever-growing demand for foldable devices, especially when its brand name is attached to it. There’s some skepticism around why Apple waited for almost an eternity to roll out foldable phones, while some say it’s a bold move given Apple usually rolls out tech when it matures.
The price point can be disputed, though. We have seen expensive iPhones, so a foldable iPhone would cost a fortune for sure. There’s a foldable iPad in the works, too, although its shipment is estimated to be 0.5 to 1 million units in 2028, marking it as a niche market. That is what’s propelling Apple to roll out more iPhone Fold units as a mass-market product.
Apple is all set for a massive launch on September 9 at the Awe Dropping event. There’s the iPhone 17 series in the works, along with the much-anticipated iPhone Fold and a few other devices.
