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Apple launches its first foldable smartphone iPhone Duo With the introduction of , a new debate has started in the global tech circles. Questions are being raised whether the manufacturer of the foldable screen (Foldable OLED) on the basis of which Apple is claiming a revolution in the foldable segment, is its biggest rival company. Samsung (Samsung Display) Is?
Despite being arch rivals in the smartphone market, Apple and Samsung have a decades-long commercial supplier relationship, according to supply chain and industry analysts. Samsung Display is the world’s largest and technologically leading manufacturer of flexible and foldable OLED panels. According to reports, Samsung Display is the main supplier of the core OLED panels of the iPhone Duo’s 7.6-inch inner foldable display and 5.4-inch outer display. However, Apple has used its patented ‘custom nano-texture coating’ and multi-layer polymer architecture on these panels so that creases (folding folds) are almost not visible on the screen. This means that even though the manufacturing fabrication is Samsung’s, the display customization and hinge integration is Apple’s own.
Within minutes of the official unveiling of the iPhone Duo, Samsung (Samsung Mobile US) made a flurry of sarcastic posts on social media platform ‘X’ and accused Apple of outright copying the idea and design:
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“Reheating Samsung’s Leftovers”: Samsung taunted and said that Apple is presenting the same form-factor 7 years after the Galaxy Fold launched in 2019 as if it has invented something new. Samsung dubbed it “Samsung reheating leftovers.”
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Book-Style Fold Design: Critics and Samsung say that the iPhone Duo’s folding mechanism, inner 7.6-inch screen, and outer cover screen’s aspect ratio are largely in line with Samsung’s recent Galaxy Z Fold 8 matches.
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Trolling on ‘Duo’ name and features: Samsung and other tech brands (even language learning app Duolingo) also took Apple to task over the ‘Duo’ name and split-screen multitasking features that have been basic features in Android and Samsung foldables for years.
Just ahead of the launch, Samsung also released a video advertisement titled “Welcome to Folding”. In this, Samsung described its Galaxy Z Fold 8 as the world’s thinnest (4.5mm unfolded) and lightest (201 grams) foldable phone and taunted that Apple’s first foldable phone is struggling with the problem of heavy hardware.
Samsung R&D officials said in interviews that weight is the most important parameter in foldable phones and that Apple is merely ‘catching up’ in foldable technology, not a new innovation.
Amidst these allegations of copying and trolling, the logic of Apple and tech experts is different. Apple’s approach has always been to ‘be the best’ rather than ‘to be the first’:
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Crease-Free Experience: While Samsung has not been able to completely eliminate the screen crease even after 8 generations, Apple has succeeded in completely hiding the crease from the eyes through nano-texture covering and titanium support plates in the iPhone Duo.
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iOS 27 and software optimizations: Apple didn’t just tweak the hardware, it also re-engineered the entire operating system to fit the foldable screen, including thumb-friendly side controls and dual home screens.
Tech analysts believe that this ‘rivalry’ in the smartphone world is not new—Samsung will continue to make billions of dollars in profits by selling displays to Apple, while on the other hand, it will continue to try to keep its brand image at the forefront by accusing it of copying in marketing.