Your next iPad could be a foldable model, if one analyst’s predictions are correct.
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Apple will release a foldable iPad with a carbon fiber kickstand in 2024, according to famed Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo says the new foldable iPad will have a carbon fiber kickstand to make it lighter and more durable, presumably compared to an iPad’s Magic Keyboard. The crutch would be manufactured by the Chinese company Anjie Technology.
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“I’m optimistic about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model to boost shipments and improve the product lineup,” Kuo tweeted on Monday.
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Thus, I’m taking a conservative approach to iPad shipments for 2023, predicting a 10-15% year-over-year decline. Still, I’m optimistic about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model to boost shipments and improve the product lineup.— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) January 30, 2023
It also predicts that Apple will begin mass production of an updated iPad mini in the first quarter of 2024, but doesn’t expect there to be any new iPad releases in the next nine to 12. month.
Kuo revised a previous prediction last April that Apple will release a foldable iPhone in 2024 and said instead it could be a foldable iPad or a hybrid of an iPad and an iPhone. .
He changed his foldable Apple prediction after Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young last February said Apple was investigating foldable laptops with a 20-inch screen. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported at the time that Apple was exploring a dual-screen foldable MacBook and iPad hybrid, with the second screen serving as a virtual keyboard. But he said Apple would likely release it in 2026.
Apple’s foldable iPad rumors follow Gurman’s January report that Apple is seriously considering creating a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen – something Steve Jobs once said was an “ergonomically terrible” concept. “. However, touchscreen capability has become popular for Windows laptops. Apple could release the touchscreen MacBook in 2025.
Apple holds a number of patents for foldable devices. Earlier this month, he received another. However, it has yet to ship folding devices, which puts it behind many of its main rivals. Samsung, whose Galaxy Flip and Fold dominate foldable sales, created several ads last year mocking Apple’s lack of a foldable device around its iPhone 14 launch.
According to technical analyst IDC’s latest forecast for foldable smartphones, shipments will reach 41.5 million in 2026, up 66% from the 8.1 million units shipped in 2021, and from 13.5 million. in 2022. Foldables represent 1.1% of the global smartphone market. IDC previously forecast foldable phone shipments to reach 27.6 million units by 2025.
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Currently, flip-style foldables are more popular than the larger, tablet-like format. Samsung said 70% of foldable Galaxy buyers chose the Flip and 30% chose the Fold, when it announced that 10 million foldable smartphones were sold in 2021.