Apple may soon launch a foldable device which ‘could be an incremental opportunity’

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is trading up this morning on speculation that it may soon launch a long-rumoured folding iPhone or iPad.

UBS analyst reacts to the new patent

On Wednesday, the tech behemoth secured a patent whose abstract included drawing of a foldable device with a wraparound screen. Reacting to the development, UBS analyst David Vogt said:

We think that such a device could be an incremental opportunity for future generation iPhone models.

Vogt, however, confirmed that he wasn’t expecting such a device to be launched this year. Nonetheless, he recommends buying Apple stock here and sees upside in it to $180 – about a 17% premium on its current price.

It’s noteworthy, though, that the multinational has so far not signalled that it’s working on a foldable device.

A foldable device could help boost sales

According to the UBS analyst, a foldable iPhone will help sales as existing customers upgrade and many could potentially switch from Samsung as well that already has a foldable smartphone in the market. 

If it compresses upgrade rate for iPhones or attracts switchers from Android, iPhone unit growth could come in above our 238 million estimates in FY 24 given installed base of 1.2 billion iPhones and 1.3 billion smartphones shipped a year.

Apple’s latest iPhone 14 has faced challenges in recent months as inflation continues to weigh on spending. In Q4, iPhone sales were down 8.17% versus the same quarter last year and missed expectations by a whopping $2.51 billion as Invezz reported HERE.

For the year, Apple stock is still up more than 20% at writing.