Apple and Samsung turn foldables into the week's defining mobile battle

The arrival of Apple's iPhone Duo has transformed foldables from a relatively specialised hardware category into the defining smartphone story of the week. Samsung immediately launched a campaign emphasising its eight generations of folding experience, while Huawei and Xiaomi had unveiled major new foldables only days earlier. The competitors now represent four distinct strategies.

Samsung sells maturity and established software; Huawei pushes tri-fold engineering; Xiaomi combines a passport-shaped design with its own XRing processor; and Apple brings deep ecosystem integration and a $1,999 premium proposition. Foldables still account for only a small percentage of global smartphone volume, so the next stage of competition is not simply about stealing market share from one another.

Manufacturers need to persuade conventional flagship buyers that the larger flexible display provides enough practical value to justify higher prices, thicker hardware and more complex hinges. Apple's arrival dramatically increases the number of consumers who will now consider that question.