Cheaper components: iPhone foldable production cheaper?
Apple apparently succeeded in persuading key component manufacturers for its first foldable iPhone to increase efficiency. Will this be passed on to customers?
Foldable mobile phone (not from Apple).
(Image: tinhkhuong/Shutterstock)
Apple has apparently achieved an important breakthrough in components for its first iPhone foldable, expected in fall 2026. According to an X-posting and an investor report by the usually well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the manufacturing cost per unit could therefore be “significantly cheaper.” However, it is still unclear whether Apple will pass this on to customers—or instead benefit from a higher margin.
Expensive hinge becomes cheaper
The manufacturing improvement concerns a central component of a foldable smartphone: the hinge and its bearing. Due to the necessary high demands on durability (users are expected to perform thousands of opening and closing operations), the market has so far assumed that this would cost between 100 and 120 US dollars to purchase. According to Kuo, who works for the financial firm TF International Securities in Taipei, the price has not been halved but reduced to 70 to 80 dollars.
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This is being implemented through a cooperation between two manufacturers: Apple's long-standing main iPhone assembler Foxconn and the Taiwanese specialist manufacturer SZS. SZS specializes in hinge technology but has likely never produced it on the scale Apple wants for its iPhone foldable. According to Kuo, Foxconn is entering into a joint venture with SZS and is also controlling it. The partners would rather not save on materials, it was said, but Foxconn has optimized industrial assembly—the company is famous, or infamous, for its efficient manufacturing.
Two more manufacturers in the starting blocks
According to Kuo, Apple is not relying on just one supplier. In addition to Foxconn / SZS, which will supply up to 65 percent of the hinges, the US company Amphenol is also involved (the production location is currently unclear). Finally, Kuo also claims to have learned that the industrious Chinese manufacturer Luxshare-ICT, which already assembles the Vision Pro for Apple, will also supply hinges for the foldable in 2027.
It is currently unclear what material Apple will use for the frame structure and hinge. It could be stainless steel or a mixture of aluminum and titanium. Initial rumors also spoke of the use of Liquid Metal, a special alloy for which Apple secured the rights many years ago. Apple's first foldable is expected to be unveiled in September next year. So far, prices above 2000 US dollars (Europe: 2500 Euro) are considered possible.
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