Any iPad is foldable if you try hard enough but Apple guru says a hinged one is coming
- Reference: 1675191313
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/31/2024_foldable_ipad/
- Source link:
In a [1]series of tweets yesterday, Kuo said his forecast of a folding iPad in 2024 comes with a cautious stance on iPad releases in 2023, which he said will have a year-over-year decline of 10 to 15 percent this year.
"There may be no new iPad releases in the next 9-12 months as the iPad mini refresh is more likely to begin mass production in 1Q24," Kuo said, adding: "Nevertheless, I'm positive about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model will boost shipments and improve the product mix."
[2]
Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, gets much of the data for his [3]largely accurate Apple predictions from the company's supply chain partners in Asia. This prediction is no different, with Kuo citing Chinese firm Suzhou Anjie Technology as "the new beneficiary of the all-new design foldable iPad."
[4]
[5]
Anjie deals in a number of electronics technologies, [6]including touch panels and displays, but for the folding iPad, Kuo said it's going to be supplying the built-in carbon fiber kickstand the device will be sold with.
Kuo predicts more folding devices will ship with kickstands in the future, and he predicts Anjie will benefit from that trend "as a polishing and bonding supplier" of kickstands.
[7]
Kuo isn't the first to predict such a device coming out of Cupertino R&D labs – CCS Insight made a [8]similar prediction in October last year when it said Apple would pass on a folding phone in favor of a folding tablet thanks to market saturation from Samsung's Galaxy Z line.
[9]Phone the rich: Premium handsets sole survivors of slump in India, China
[10]Apple sued for promising privacy, failing at it
[11]Apple emits emergency patch for older iPhones after snoops pounce on WebKit hole
[12]Apple wants a quarter of its products manufactured in India, claims minister
"A folding iPhone will be super high risk for Apple. Firstly, it would have to be incredibly expensive in order to not cannibalize the existing iPhones," CCS Insight's Chief of Research, Ben Wood, told CNBC in October.
"Right now it doesn't make sense for Apple to make a foldable iPhone. We think they will shun that trend and probably dip a toe in the water with a foldable iPad."
Not everyone agrees, however. Ross Young, CEO and cofounder of Display Supply Chain Consultants, [13]responded to Kuo's Twitter thread to say he'd heard rumors of "multiple OLED iPads" coming in 2024, but nothing about a possible folding Apple tablet next year. Bloomberg Apple watcher Mark Gurman [14]disputed the news as well.
Kuo has previously predicted a number of Apple device features that turned out to be real, like the iPhone getting [15]satellite connectivity (though he was a [16]model year off ), as well as foreseeing Apple's supply chain issues, like its [17]low Q4 shipment numbers , which he believed would be [18]similarly short .
[19]
We'll have to wait a while to see if this one comes true, but Apple won't be any help. They didn't respond to questions about the rumored folding device. ®
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[1] https://twitter.com/mingchikuo/status/1619952787563114498
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y9mdkqQC0yvVZY61gjTQHgAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://appletrack.com/ming-chi-kuo/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y9mdkqQC0yvVZY61gjTQHgAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y9mdkqQC0yvVZY61gjTQHgAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.reuters.com/markets/companies/002635.SZ/profile
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y9mdkqQC0yvVZY61gjTQHgAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/18/apple-to-launch-a-foldable-ipad-rather-than-iphone-in-2024-analyst.html
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/31/premium_handsets_up_in_asia/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/28/apple_sued_privacy/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/24/apple_iphone_bug_under_exploit/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/24/apple_india_manufacturing/
[13] https://twitter.com/DSCCRoss/status/1620069313670692865
[14] https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1620118307578970112
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/07/apple_iphone_watch_launch/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/31/apple_iphone13_globalstar/
[17] https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS50146623
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/30/foxconn_iphone_delays/
[19] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y9mdkqQC0yvVZY61gjTQHgAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
But will it..
..blend!
OLED iPad?
I have NO use for a foldable iPad, but an OLED iPad (Mini) would be GREAT! As a pilot, the single biggest problem with an iPad has always been the interaction between the iPad LCD screen (and other avionics with LCD screens) and polarized sunglasses. The choice has been to give up the polarized sunglasses so you can read the iPad and put up with the glare or cut the glare and not be able to read the iPad. Now if only Garmin would change to use to OLEDs...
Re: OLED iPad?
Is it true that OLED screens work with polarized glasses? I have that problem with my phone all the time.
So do Samsung Galaxy Tab devices
I've done it three times... They don't fold easily, or fold very well, but they do fold...
A folding iPhone risky because it "would cannibalize existing iPhone sales"???
Why would Apple care, if they sell fewer regular iPhones and more folding iPhones so they sell the same number that's just as good. The fact a folding iPhone would undoubtedly cost more so even if the margins are the same the profit per phone would be higher. That part would be a win/win.
The risk is that it develops problems over time like a visible seam where it folds or some type of mechanical failure. Plus there's the risk that if it is a niche product like folding phones currently are it may not be worth their trouble to design & sell it. They quit making the iPhone "mini" because it wasn't selling enough despite it selling quite a few more units than all the folding phones from all the Android OEMs combined. If they ever start making a folding iPhone they want to be sure it sticks around or they will piss off customers if they discontinue it after a couple years.
I don't really have much desire for a folding phone, but that seems much more useful than a folding tablet. At least a folding phone allows a bigger screen that what would fit in your pocket otherwise. I don't really see a reason why I should want a tablet to fold to a smaller size, but I guess the draw is that at a 90* fold its form factor is basically that of a laptop and can sit on its own (but then why the mention of the stand in other articles...maybe I'm not understanding what the target market is for this)
Meh
Should I care ???
:)
Hang on...
You're Holding [Folding] it Wrong!
Oh dear
Quote "Anjie deals"
Now that the secret is out and it appears to be Anjie that was the source of the leak, what are the odds that Apple drops them as a supplier as fast as they can?
Ming 'throw it all against the wall and report on what sticks' Kuo really needs to protect his sources a lot better.