Is the revolution for foldable smartphones stalled before it ever really started? Even after years of unrelenting innovation and marketing, a new CNET survey indicates that 64% of Americans are still not interested in purchasing a foldable phone within the next year, with only 13% showing real interest and just 3% already owning one. The statistics write a tale of an industry running ahead of its consumers a gap that poses important questions about technology, engineering, and psychology of adoption.
The hurdles are strong and well-established. Expensive prices are at the head of the list, mentioned by 36% of those surveyed, followed closely by durability issues (31%), uncertain benefits over traditional smartphones (31%), and usability concerns (26%). While brands such as Samsung and Motorola brag about increasingly thinner designs and better cameras, the $2,000 price point of the new Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a psychological and financial barrier for the majority of consumers. Motorola’s less expensive Razr and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 7, at $900, try to increase appeal, but an image of foldables as specialized, high-end products lingers.
The doubt is understandable. Designing a foldable smartphone requires a complete break from conventional design and production. At the core of all foldable phones is the flexible OLED screen, a materials science wonder that substitutes glass with polyimide film a high-temperature, flexing-resistant polymer. The whole stack of displays, including the touch component, needs to be less than 1.0 mm thick and support a bending radius as small as 1.5 mm. This demands ultra-thin, multi-layered materials and new materials such as colorless polyimide, hard coats, and optimized thin-film transistors.
However, such engineering wonders have a price tag. The yield in manufacturing of foldable displays is less than 30%, whereas that of conventional OLED panels is 60–70%. Consequently, the price of a foldable 7.3-inch WQHD OLED panel may be as high as $100 twice that of an equivalent non-foldable panel, with even the touch module costing $25 compared to $15 for low-end models. Supply chain intricacies further exacerbate the problem in that every brand demands bespoke display designs, with little margin for economies of scale or second-tier markets to offload unsold stock.
Durability, another important issue, is quantified by the number of times a device can be folded before its failure. Although the sector aims for a standard of 200,000 folds, initial devices failed this requirement, with noticeable creasing and screen artifacts occurring after several months of usage. More recent developments like ultra-thin strengthened glass and enhanced hinge systems fabricated with high-precision laser drilling have started resolving these problems. However, consumer skepticism exists, particularly as longevity and battery life are still number one concerns for would-be buyers, based on several YouGov polls.
Demographic patterns put some complexity into the puzzle of adoption. Millennials are most interested, with 19% indicating they want foldables, as opposed to 14% of Gen Z, 10% of Gen X, and only 8% of Boomers. This age-specific bias suggests nostalgia for flip phones and willingness by younger consumers to try new shapes. Even among the most interested cohorts, though, there is much distance between interest and actual purchase.
Likely the biggest wildcard is Apple’s reported entry into the world of foldables sometime in 2026. Market watchers such as Forrester’s Thomas Husson think that “Apple’s potential entry in the market later in 2026 could indeed help [with] legitimizing and democratizing the category.” The supply chain is already preparing for the shock: South Korean component makers are gearing up to invest, with names such as Fine Technix and Dowooinsys increasing the manufacture of hinges and UTG glass. Samsung Display is said to be gearing up to provide as much as 15 million 7-inch foldable OLED panels per year to Apple, with LG Display set to diversify the supply chain.
If Apple succeeds in translating its brand loyalty into foldable sales, the market could shift dramatically. TrendForce forecasts suggest that foldable shipments may reach 45.7 million units by 2028, up from 18.1 million in 2023, but still a fraction of the 1.2 billion smartphones sold annually. For now, the industry remains in a holding pattern technologically ambitious, but waiting for a catalyst that could turn engineering marvels into mainstream essentials.
