Apple reaffirms its foldable iPhone is on pace

Even the world’s most valuable companies need their next revenue driver.

Apple’s stock has been subjected to a classic case of “he said, she said,” after a Nikkei Asia report suggested that production on the highly-anticipated foldable phone was behind schedule, causing a sharp dip in Apple’s share price on April 7. The fears were largely dispelled after Bloomberg’s Apple correspondent Mark Gurman reported that Apple was still on schedule for a September debut (shares had a strong bounce in the following session). The company has yet to make a public statement.

The iPhone generates the lion’s share of revenue for the brand, and a foldable phone is expected to add a critical new revenue stream. Over the past few years, Apple has relied on a handful of hypersuccessful products (including the iPhone 17 series and M5 MacBook Air) to drive growth.

The market’s reaction to speculation of a delay could be emblematic of the “what have you done for me lately” mood around Apple’s recent innovation. Disappointing recent rollouts for Apple Intelligence and the Vision Pro headset has Apple aficionados searching for their next hit.

Expert insight: Tech innovation

Mark Weinstein, tech entrepreneur and author of the award-winning 2024 book Restoring Our Sanity Online, posited that Apple has made a name for itself not by being first to market, but by being best to market. Thus, he mostly shrugged off concerns about where the company is with its foldable iPhone.

“If they’re having issues, that actually excites me more, because it means they’ve got to focus even harder on getting it right, getting it exactly what I’ll call ‘Apple right,’” Weinstein said.

Where the tech expert felt Apple is feeling pressure is around innovation more generally. However, he maintained the foldable iPhone is firmly in Apple’s wheelhouse and he expects it to be a more precise, and less experimental product.

“Apple dips their toe a lot in things that don’t pan out,” Weinstein told Revenue Brew, referring to abandoned concepts like its electric car. “When they stay on their core, they seem to do very well, and a flip phone is right up their alley.”