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Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, is generating strong early demand according to a new analysis from market research firm TrendForce.⁠

Less than a week after preorders opened, Apple’s website showed delivery windows extending into January 2027 for some orders, underscoring pent-up interest in the book-style inward-folding device. Initial user feedback has been mixed. Owners have praised the expanded viewing area and split-screen multitaskingy.⁠

TrendForce projects that global foldable smartphone shipments will rise just 0.5% in 2026. Against that largely flat backdrop, the firm estimates the iPhone Duo will ship approximately 5 million units this year, accounting for about 24.8% of the market. That share would place Apple in a virtual tie with Huawei for second place behind Samsung (projected at roughly 35.1% on about 7.1 million units), while Android brands excluding Apple are expected to see combined shipments fall more than 20% year-over-year amid rising component costs. Apple’s entry is therefore accelerating a realignment of market share even as overall volume stays nearly stagnant.⁠

One of the Duo’s most discussed hardware features is its barely visible display crease. Foldable OLED panels consist of multiple layers — cover materials, adhesives, display elements, and encapsulation — that experience differing tensile, compressive, and shear stresses when bent. Apple has optimized the bending radius, layer thicknesses, elastic moduli, and controlled slippage through the adhesive stack to reduce strain and improve recovery when the phone is opened. Nanoscale surface textures further scatter reflected light so the residual fold band is less noticeable. The teardrop hinge is equally critical: it keeps the display flat and stable for touch input when open and creates the necessary clearance for the intended fold curvature when closed.⁠

On the software side, the larger workspace is intended to support simultaneous document reading, AI-generated summaries, and content editing. Realizing that potential requires apps to adapt layouts dynamically as the device opens and closes while preserving state. Some applications still display black borders or under-utilize the available screen real estate, indicating that developer optimization has not yet fully matched the hardware’s capabilities. The bigger display also raises power-management demands: even static white-background content continues to consume energy for OLED emission, independent of refresh-rate reductions. Balancing multitasking, AI workloads, and battery life will depend on more efficient emissive materials, optical structures, and adaptive driving technologies.⁠

TrendForce notes that Apple’s core advantage remains its vertical integration of silicon, operating system, and developer ecosystem. As app compatibility improves and hardware reliability issues are addressed, the Duo is expected to expand the practical value of foldable displays and shift competitive focus from pure form-factor novelty toward multitasking efficiency. Secondary coverage of TrendForce’s outlook has further projected that Apple’s share could rise to nearly 30% (around 29.8%) in 2027 as the overall foldable market rebounds, though those longer-term figures remain forecasts contingent on execution.⁠

For a category that has grown only modestly in recent years, Apple’s debut is already reshaping – and is poised to dominate – the foldable smartphone market.

If and when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, they’ll be showing the world how it should be done and what to copy going forward. As usual. — MacDailyNews, February 27, 2019

As with fingerprint and facial recognition, when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, then foldable smartphones will have been done right. — MacDailyNews, January 17, 2019

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/11/03/apples-iphone-duo-to-grab-significant-share-foldable-smartphone-market-trendforce/

Apple delivered a strong finish to its fiscal year with record September-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, yet shares tumbled as investors focused on a projected margin squeeze from soaring memory costs and a cooling services outlook under new CEO John Ternus.

The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12% from a year earlier and ahead of the roughly $113.4 billion consensus, with diluted earnings per share of $2.10 beating the $1.99 estimate (aided in part by tariff refunds). iPhone revenue hit a September-quarter record of $57.58 billion, up about 17%, even with a staggered launch that included only limited sales of the iPhone 18 Pro models. Services reached an all-time high near $31.6 billion, while Mac sales jumped roughly 24%. iPad and Wearables declined on tough comparisons and supply constraints. Full fiscal 2026 revenue reached a company record of about $479 billion.

Shares, which closed Monday at $338.32, fell as much as roughly 4% in after-hours trading during the earnings call and were down about 4% in Tuesday premarket trading near $325, erasing more than $170 billion in market value from the company’s roughly $4.9 trillion valuation if the losses held.

The sell-off was driven primarily by guidance rather than the beat. Apple projected December-quarter (holiday) revenue growth of 7% to 10% — ahead of expectations and what would be an all-time record period — but guided gross margin to 45%–46%, down from 47.9% in the September quarter and below the roughly 47% analysts anticipated. Services growth was forecast at 8%–9%, short of the roughly 10.7% expected.

On his first earnings call as CEO, Ternus described the memory-pricing environment as “unprecedented,” noting higher costs versus the prior quarter and warning they would rise further into the December period as Apple’s cheaper inventory advantage fades amid competition for components from AI infrastructure demand. Margins also face pressure from the ramp of its AI-powered Siri features.

Analysts noted the results were solid on the hardware side — particularly the resilient iPhone franchise that underpins the ecosystem — but flagged concerns that non-iPhone businesses are not fully pulling their weight, alongside elevated costs and a high valuation (near 35 times forward earnings). Some also pointed to a Greater China miss relative to certain forecasts and broader consumer cost-of-living pressures that could limit Apple’s ability to pass through higher component prices.

The reaction underscores a classic post-earnings dynamic for high-multiple tech names: strong past results can be overshadowed by any sign of near-term profit compression, especially heading into a critical holiday season and amid persistent supply-chain and AI-related spending pressures. Apple continues to emphasize its installed base, pricing power, and product pipeline, including the recent iPhone Duo foldable and other launches, but investors appear focused on whether margin headwinds will prove temporary or more persistent.
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Everybody is dealing wth soaring memory costs and Apple customers are, by far, the best positioned to absorb price increases while Apple is, by far, the company that’s best positioned to absorb component price fluctuations thanks to margins that are the envy of the industry. Apple’s so called “competitors” have no such luxuries. They have only price-sensitive (read: cheap and/or poor) customers and little room to maneuver with low or no margins. Net result: As Apple customers keep buying while rivals’ customers balk, Apple gains market share in every market in which they participate.

Patience, AAPL padawans. This too shall pass. Profit from the laughably overwrought panic of others.

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/11/03/despite-posting-record-earnings-apple-stock-swoons/