Samsung’s display production for foldable iPhone shows Apple’s confidence for next year’s big reveal

The foldable iPhone is nearing reality, and the 2026 launch alongside the iPhone 18 is almost a guarantee by this point. Now, a new report has come out about Samsung’s display production numbers for the foldable phone, and it shows that Apple is very confident about next year’s big reveal.

Samsung begins display production planning

Apple has sourced Samsung to be the exclusive display supplier for its foldable iPhone, and the latter has set a target of a whopping 11 million units. This number comes from a now-removed report from Korean news site ET News. Samsung might have asked ET News to remove the report to avoid fueling premature speculation, but it was archived by semiconductor analyst Jukan.

Manufacturing 11 million OLED panels for the foldable iPhone makes one thing very clear: Apple is super confident in its product, despite the rumored $2,400 price tag.

Not Apple’s first ambitious goal

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Apple has set lofty sales expectations for a new product category that it is setting a very high price tag on. The Apple Vision Pro retailed, and still retails, for $3,499. As such, the headset has failed to meet sales expectations in both consumer, as well as enterprise markets.

However, unlike the Vision Pro, the foldable iPhone is a product that Apple fans have been waiting for for years. Interest in the foldable smartphones market is growing, especially after the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 7 came out. In fact, Samsung is increasing sales expectations for foldables for the first time in generations.

So, is the foldable iPhone headed for greatness?

I think that Apple might actually be on to something here. Out of the 11 million display units being manufactured by Samsung, around one million won’t end up in finalized products, according to the report.

That means that Apple has a goal of selling around 10 million foldable iPhone units. And if Samsung can set goals of five million sales — before the Fold 7 started selling out around the world — then Apple’s expectations seem almost reasonable.