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Sep 18
Foldable smartphone panel shipments fall 13% in 1H26 as market shifts to in-fold designs
Global foldable smartphone panel shipments declined 13% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, with the contraction concentrated in clamshell products, according to Counterpoint Research's Quarterly Foldable Display Shipment and Technology Report.

Apple has changed its iPhone launch cadence this year, splitting its high-end releases into two waves. The iPhone 18 Pro series went on sale on September 18, with Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, set to follow on October 23.

DIGITIMES analyst Luke Lin said on his podcast that the foldable's pricing is more consumer-friendly than expected, but Apple's across-the-board price hikes on older models will weigh on iPhone shipments in the second half of the year. He added that the packaging changes for the A20 Pro are the signal that supply chain players should watch most closely.

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced on September 18 that the nearly 300km-long Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable has been completed, landed, tested, and has officially been added to the Taiwan-Matsu external communications network. The project strengthens communications resilience for the outlying Matsu Islands by adding a third route with redundant backup and improving service stability for residents and public services.

Compal Electronics is buying out the shares of its listed networking arm, Compal Broadband Networks (CBN), in a cash deal that will end CBN's public listing and give Compal full control of a router and gateway business it wants to pair with its edge AI hardware.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are emerging as the main drivers of Taiwan's premium smartphone upgrade cycle, with preorder demand running ahead of last year despite the debut of the company's first foldable iPhone, iPhone Duo. Data Express, an Apple specialist retailer, said on September 16 that the Pro models remain the preferred choice among consumers, while the foldable device is creating a new source of interest in the premium segment.

Arcadyan Technology expects stronger revenue in the third quarter of 2026 as the network communications market enters its seasonal peak, with mobile communications leading growth. The Taiwanese supplier is seeing demand from the Americas, while Wi-Fi 7 upgrades, enterprise networking, and new product lines could shape global industry supply.

Apple's first foldable phone has sharpened global attention on smartphone design trade-offs, with weight, thickness, and component miniaturization becoming key benchmarks for consumers and competitors alike. For buyers worldwide, the latest competition suggests future handsets may be lighter, slimmer, and more expensive.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has again been photographed using Samsung Electronics' latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold8, after being seen with a Galaxy Z Fold7 earlier in 2026. The latest sighting has drawn fresh attention to the close partnership between Samsung Electronics and Nvidia.

Samsung Electronics' in-house Exynos application processors (APs) are steadily regaining lost ground in the global smartphone market. Samsung's share of the global smartphone AP market rose to 9% in the second quarter of 2026, up 2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 3 percentage points from a year earlier, marking a second straight quarterly increase.

Samsung Electronics is reportedly testing Micron's most advanced 1γ LPDDR5X memory for possible use in the Galaxy S27 series, as rising costs around next-generation mobile DRAM complicate supply decisions. South Korean media say higher prices for advanced-process chips, plus the prospect of further mobile DRAM increases in the fourth quarter of 2026, are weighing on Samsung's plans.

Apple's first foldable phone is drawing worldwide attention because its design choices could shape how future bendable devices are built and priced. But suppliers say one of the industry's oldest durability issues remains unresolved: whether the protective film over the inner display can lift over time, especially at the center crease.