Apple’s first foldable iPhone is facing engineering issues that could delay its launch and push back the company’s entry into the foldable handset market.
The prospect is a setback for a product long expected to broaden Apple’s hardware lineup, and it comes as the shares trade around $258.86, roughly 12% below the average analyst target of $295.32.
Apple also has other pressures building around the same time. The company joined Amazon, Microsoft and Anthropic in Project Glasswing, a new AI powered cybersecurity initiative, while its appeal to invalidate Xiao I Corporation’s AI patents in China was rejected by the Supreme People’s Court, confirming Xiao I’s claims and closing off Apple’s ability to challenge those patents.
Read Also: Instant Digital Says No Black Iphone 18 Rumors for Pro
That mix leaves the foldable iPhone issue as part of a wider risk profile, not an isolated product hiccup. Apple’s shares have gained 5% over the past week, returned 43.3% over the past year, 62.1% over three years and 102.5% over five years, while the 30-day return is roughly flat at 0.5%.
Read Also: Apple Iphone 17: NASA astronauts use iPhone 17 Pro Max to photograph Earth on Artemis II
The next question is whether Apple can resolve the engineering problems quickly enough to avoid slipping further behind rivals already in the foldable category, while also managing security demands and legal limits in China.
