Apple explores test production line for foldable iPhone in Taiwan

Apple patent application illustration of foldable device (USPTO)
Apple has discussed with suppliers the potential for establishing a test production line for a foldable iPhone in Taiwan, aiming to mass-produce the device in India for a launch next year, according to Nikkei Asia.
Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-Fang for Nikkei Asia:
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Sources say the U.S. tech giant is aiming for a 10% increase in total phone shipments in 2026 and believes that introducing a long-awaited folding model would help achieve that goal.
The plan, if realized, would also help Apple speed up the shift of new product development away from China amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The idea behind the discussions is to tap the engineering resources and ecosystem of Apple suppliers in Taiwan to build a mini pilot line that would verify the equipment and fine-tune the parameters and manufacturing steps for making a foldable iPhone, three people familiar with the talks said. Once all those steps are worked out, the process would be replicated in India to mass produce the phones…
Apple suppliers have eyed a plot of land in a northern Taiwanese city for the mooted pilot line, two of the people said, but added that the plan is not yet finalized and subject to changes. They also pointed to existing challenges in Taiwan, such as the island’s limited land and labor resources for iPhone production, even for a pilot line, which would need roughly a thousand operators, they said.
Apple has told several suppliers that it expects the introduction of a foldable model to spur demand for iPhones overall, including non-foldable ones, two people told Nikkei… Sources said that on a preliminary basis, Apple aims to produce about 95 million iPhones in its next lineup coming in 2026, the highest in years and a more than 10% growth from 2025. This would bring the total production volume of all models next year to over 240 million phones, about a 10% increase from this year.
For the recently introduced iPhone 17 series, Apple gave an initial production projection of 85 million phones for this year, and a total of about 220 million for all iPhones in 2025, the sources said. The actual production volume for this year’s new iPhone lineup is subject to adjustment depending on market reactions.

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MacDailyNews Take: Excuse us while we back up the truck!
Apple wasn’t first with fingerprint recognition, they were the first to do it right with Touch ID. Apple wasn’t first with facial recognition, they were the first to do it right with Face ID. Apple wasn’t first with contactless payments, they were the first to do it right with Apple Pay. — MacDailyNews, February 27, 2019
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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