Apple display manufacturing partner Samsung Display has reshuffled its Apple business team in an effort to improve operational efficiency for the development and manufacturing of foldable display panels, according to a report by Korean publication The Elec.
The Elec says Samsung is making moves to strengthen its foldable display capabilities in anticipation of Apple’s first foldable products by integrating the expertise it has gained making Samsung foldable devices since 2019.
Samsung Display and Apple’s other display provider LG Display are said to be already working on displays for use in possible upcoming Apple foldable products. One of the panels under development boasts 20.25-inch dimensions, according to the report.
Apple has been rumored to be working on foldable display technology for several years. In 2021, Bloomberg said Apple had started “early work” on a foldable iPhone, but had not yet committed to manufacturing a foldable device at that point in time. Development in 2021 was limited to a display and did not include foldable iPhone prototypes.
The foldable displays could also be used for foldable devices resembling MacBooks, as display analyst Ross Young Apple is developing a 20.5-inch foldable notebook that could hit shelves as soon as 2025.
Young had also said that Apple’s foldable notebook product would boast a full-size on-screen keyboard when folded, or offer the option to use it with an external keyboard when unfolded.