Foldable phones are here to stay, and Samsung is leading the market by a large margin. Apple, on the other hand, is more than 1,000 days behind Samsung and counting. Although this may sound a bit dramatic, it's not too far from the truth. It's been more than 1,000 days since Samsung introduced its first foldable phone, and Apple doesn't show any signs of wanting to join this segment anytime soon.
Apple is about to unveil the iPhone 14 series later today. The lineup includes four ‘candy bar' iPhone models. and according to all the leaks and reports thus far, Apple has no plans to announce a foldable phone at its imminent launch event. While Samsung has been spearheading the foldable phone market for a few years now, we're seeing no innovation from Apple on the foldable side of the mobile market.
Apple seems to be playing it safe, as it usually does. But is it “too safe?”
Historically, Apple is an innovator in the sense that it is capable of refining existing ideas to highly marketable levels. It's very capable of optimizing existing systems within the confines of its iOS platform. However, the Cupertino giant rarely (if ever) takes great risks on brand-new technologies.
Despite the success of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Apple still doesn't seem to be anywhere near releasing its first foldable phone. This lack of activity even gave Samsung enough confidence to mock the company in its recent ads (again). Samsung called Apple out for its lack of innovation while propping up its own technologies.
Three years is a fairly long time for the mobile market, and as of now, it's not entirely clear if Apple is playing it safe due to the ongoing economic uncertainties or if the company believes the technology hasn't matured enough to fit its smartphone lineup. Apple is still the leading smartphone market in many regions thanks to the iPhone, and the company was never in a rush to redefine its iPhones regularly. Then again, when it comes to the foldable market, Apple almost seems a bit too conservative.
It’s also possible that Apple might not want to release a clamshell or book-like foldable phone. Instead, it may plan to wait until the display technology allows for even more spectacular designs before it releases its first foldable, slideable, or rollable iPhone.
Whatever the case, Apple's lack of activity in the foldable phone segment is allowing Samsung to gain a massive head start. And whenever Apple may decide to join the foldable market segment, it might have to bring out the big guns to put a dent in Samsung's rising market supremacy. In South Korea, at least, pre-orders for the latest foldable phones in the first week have exceeded Galaxy S22 pre-orders, and if that's not a symptom of a massive shift in the market, I don't know what is.
We'll see what Apple has in store for its fans later today, but a Galaxy Z Flip 4 competitor is probably not on the table. And although some iPhone 14 variants will be technically superior to the Galaxy Z Flip 4, they'll probably lack the soul and fun elements the new Z Flip model embraces.
