Apple's Foldable iPhone Could Lift 36 Million-Unit Market as China Drives Demand

Q: Why might international buyers secretly receive a completely different iPhone network experience than US customers this September?

International buyers may get a different network experience because Apple is widely rumored to split the iPhone 18 Pro’s modem hardware by region. The strongest reports suggest U.S. iPhone 18 Pro models could keep Qualcomm modems so Apple can preserve support for 5G mmWave, the very fast but short-range network layer used mainly by U.S. carriers such as Verizon in dense areas like stadiums, airports, and downtown cores. Non-U.S. models, by contrast, may switch to Apple’s in-house C2 modem, which is expected to focus on sub-6GHz 5G and better power efficiency but may still lack mmWave support. That means buyers overseas could end up with iPhones that behave differently on cellular even if the phones look identical. In practice, international models may offer better battery life and efficiency on everyday 5G, while U.S. models may retain an edge in rare high-speed mmWave situations. The tradeoff is less about headline speed for most users and more about which networks each region actually relies on. There is still some uncertainty. Qualcomm recently signaled its Apple business will shrink faster than expected, which has fueled speculation that Apple may use its C2 modem more broadly than earlier leaks suggested. But if the regional split holds, the hidden difference this September will be the modem inside the phone—and that will shape signal behavior, peak 5G speeds, and battery performance depending on where the device is sold.

3 articles · Updated · t2online · Aug 24

Apple is expected to enter foldables within weeks, a move analysts say could broaden the category beyond early adopters and intensify competition with Samsung and Huawei.
China underpins that opportunity: foldables were only 1.6% of the smartphone market in 2025, yet the country bought more units than the rest of the world combined.
Sigmaintell sees Chinese foldable-screen shipments rising from about 10 million units in 2025 to 12 million this year, helped by improving designs and Apple's anticipated launch.
Omdia forecasts global foldable shipments will grow more than 20% annually through 2028 to 36 million units, with larger screens and AI features favoring book-style models over flip phones.