Your next iPad could be a foldable model, if one analyst’s predictions are correct. Image: Getty Images
Apple will release a foldable iPad with a carbon fiber kickstand in 2024, claims renowned Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Ming-Chi Kuo says the carbon fiber kickstand on this new foldable iPad will make it lighter and more durable, presumably compared to the iPad’s Magic Keyboard. The crutch would be manufactured by the Chinese company Anjie Technology.
“I’m optimistic about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model to drive shipments and improve the product lineup,” tweeted Kuo on Monday.
He also predicts that Apple will begin mass production of a new iPad mini in the first quarter of 2024, but doesn’t expect there to be any new iPad releases in the next nine to twelve months.
Kuo revised a previous prediction from last April that Apple would release a foldable iPhone in 2024 and said it could be a foldable iPad or a hybrid of iPad and iPhone.
He changed his prediction for the foldable iPhone after Ross Young, an analyst at Display Supply Chain Consultants, said last February that Apple was exploring the possibility of creating foldable laptops with a 20-inch screen. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported at the time that Apple was investigating building a dual-screen foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid, with the second screen serving as a virtual keyboard. He said, however, that Apple would probably not release it until 2026.
The foldable iPad rumors follow Gurman’s January report that Apple is seriously considering making a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen — a concept that Steve Jobs called “ergonomically poor.” However, the touchscreen feature 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, she got another one. However, it has yet to release foldable devices, which puts it behind many of its main rivals. Samsung, whose Galaxy Flip and Fold dominate foldable device sales, created several ads last year poking fun at Apple’s lack of a foldable device, around the launch of its iPhone 14.
According to the latest IDC forecast for foldable smartphones, shipments will reach 41.5 million units in 2026, an increase of 66% from the 8.1 million units shipped in 2021, and 13.5 million in 2022. Foldable smartphones account for 1.1% of the global smartphone market. IDC previously predicted foldable smartphone shipments to reach 27.6 million units in 2025.
For now, flip-type foldable phones are more popular than the larger tablet-type format. Samsung said 70% of foldable Galaxy buyers chose the Flip, and 30% the Fold, when it announced that 10 million foldable smartphones were sold in 2021.
Source: “ZDNet.com”