Apple's first foldable iPhone Duo takes centre stage, combining a larger display with a new form factor and AI-powered experiences. (Express Image/Apple)Apple has finally entered the foldable smartphone brandwagon with the iPhone Duo, signalling that this segment is now mature enough to have a significant share of sales and value as well as the attention of the second richest company in the world. Apple skipped the base models in this keynote and launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, in a way suggesting it is tough now to have an annual update across product verticals.Apple’s annual September keynote Wednesday had its first foldable, the iPhone 18 Duo, take the centrestage. Also, taking the spotlight was new CEO John Ternus on stage in his first Steve Jobs theatre keynote. “As we look ahead, we see a future filled with enormous discovery and transformation. AI makes entirely new kinds of experiences possible,” Ternus said, calling the product experience around this the “intelligent personal hub”. “It’s the intersection of broad new capability and a deep understanding of your personal context that makes this idea so powerful…”Also Read | Apple Event September 2026 LIVE UpdatesAnd for this, Ternus said, you need more screen space, thus explaining the logic behind the new iPhone Duo. The new form redefines the iPhone experience, yoking the hardware and software together. “The iPhone Duo brings an entirely new design while preserving everything you love and expect from iPhone. It gives you the largest display ever on an iPhone while still fitting easily in your pocket. It reflects extraordinarily complex engineering, yet feels effortless to use. And it makes new experiences possible,” Ternus summed up.Foldable phones have been around for over seven years. But despite patronage from giants like Samsung and Huawei, it is still just the creamy layer of the Android ecosystem, accounting for roughly 2 per cent of the devices sold. All that could change this year, as Apple has consistently shown that it can mainstream products and features once it adopts them into the iPhone ecosystem. The hero effect of these products also helps the rest of the market sell more affordable models that aspire to look and feel like the Apple product. However, mainstreaming a foldable smartphone might not be that easy, given that Samsung and others have been trying to do this over the past many years, even offering multiple price points in the segment. User interest has still been low, probably because of durability and usability concerns.Research firm IDC says global foldable shipments fell 15% YoY in the first half of 2026, with Huawei holding 50% of global foldable units and 55% of value in the second quarter of 2026. This suggests the demand on the Android side has plateaued, and availability of an iOS device will add some fillip to the market. IDC forecasts Apple to sell 10 million units in its first 12 months and generate $27 billion in revenues from its first foldable — that’s 44% of the segment value share. This is calculated at an average price point of $2500, double the average selling price of iPhones at the moment. iPhone Duo first look.Francisco Jeronimo, Vice-President at IDC, said that while Apple is expected to be “the single largest contributor to segment growth” in 2027, “the foldable stays a premium slice of the market, and Samsung, Huawei and the Chinese vendors will not surrender volume.” “The genuine risks”, he listed, “are a first-generation product that disappoints on crease, weight or durability; a price that limits the addressable base; and a China market where Huawei’s five-year head start in hardware, retail and carrier relationships is difficult to unwind.”However, Apple does not need to sell the most foldables to change the segment, he clarified, adding that “by anchoring the premium tier and doubling its own average selling price, it converts a stalling, volume-led category into a value engine, and it forces every rival to compete on Apple’s economics rather than their own… That is the more important shift, and it is the one the market should watch first.”Story continues below this adThe 18 Pro models, powered by A20 Pro chips, offer a new version of Siri with on-device AI capabilities that make this personal context possible. Sribalan Santhanam, Vice-President of Silicon Engineering, said the A20 Pro has a second neural engine to run advanced on-device AI models. It also has a larger battery and better camera features. The entry-level models are now expected to update a few months from now.Apple also launched the AirPods 5 with active noise cancellation, the new Apple Watch Series 12 and the Ultra 4 models with better sensors and AI analysis layers of the data. iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at Rs 164,900, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at Rs 179,900.The author is in California on the invite of Apple.Nandagopal Rajan writes on technology, gadgets and everything related. He has worked with the India Today Group and Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of Calicut University and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal. ... Read More Tags:Apple Inc