Die Einführung des faltbaren iPhones rückt näher, und die Apple - Industrie - Kette tanzt mit.

Today, the Apple supply chain sector opened higher with heavy trading volume and continued to rise throughout the day, with the sector index reaching a new high in the past three months. Large-cap stocks worth over 100 billion yuan, such as Lens Technology, Foxconn Industrial Internet, and Luxshare Precision, rallied. By the close, Lens Technology and Luxshare Precision rose 11.4% and 5.45% respectively. Foxconn Industrial Internet, Chaoyang Technology, Xinya Electronics, and Honghe Technology hit the daily limit, while Blite, Yian Technology, Suofeiya, and Jingyan Technology led the gainers.

01

Apple is on the verge of entering the foldable phone market

According to supply chain sources from DigiTimes, Apple's foldable iPhone has entered the P1 (Prototype 1) development stage in June. Subsequently, there will be P2 and P3 stages (this stage lasts about two months. During this period, the supply chain will conduct small-scale trial production, and then hand it over to iPhone's main assemblers, Hon Hai and Pegatron, for assembly and inspection of production and product yield. If there are no problems, it will enter the next stage). It is expected that the entire Prototype development process will be completed by the end of 2025, followed by the EVT (Engineering Verification Test) stage for engineering sample verification tests to ensure that the product meets Apple's design requirements and specifications.

Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingchi recently wrote that Apple's supplier, Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn), is expected to officially start producing Apple's foldable iPhone in the third or fourth quarter of 2025. Currently, many components have not been finalized, such as the most critical hinge part. However, the specifications of the foldable screen have been determined, and the screen will be produced by Samsung Display. Guo Mingchi expects that Samsung Display will produce about 7 million to 8 million foldable screen panels for Apple in 2026, and Apple plans to order a total of 15 million to 20 million foldable iPhones. He speculates that these 15 million to 20 million foldable devices may need to support Apple's market demand for two to three years because the high price of the smartphone may limit its demand. Guo Mingchi also said that "Apple's plan may still change" before the project officially enters the production stage.

Previously, according to a report by Cailian Press, an industry insider vaguely revealed that for Apple's foldable phone project, "(a leading manufacturer) should be doing NPI (New Product Introduction)."

02

Apple's existing core suppliers are expected to be the first beneficiaries

Liu Yushi, the research director of CINNO Research, said, "After years of continuous iteration and improvement in the supply chain, the technologies related to foldable screens have become mature, and the relevant supply chain has sufficient scale to support Apple's entry into the market. Most of the suppliers of foldable mechanisms and foldable screens are originally Apple supply chain suppliers, with a high degree of overlap."

Lens Technology, which rose 11% today, once said that the company is "one of the earliest suppliers in the market to enter the foldable screen supply" and has been deeply involved since the technology was far from mature. "In fact, we have been investing in R & D with our major customers for a long time when this technology was not yet mature."

03

More consumer electronics suppliers in the A-share market are entering the upstream components of foldable screens, such as hinges, liquid metals, and UTG (Ultra-Thin Glass) covers.

On July 1, Yian Technology announced that to meet the need for capacity expansion to undertake new project orders from important customers, the company plans to increase the capital of its controlled liquid metal subsidiary, Yihao Metal, by 120 million yuan with its own funds. Among them, 44.28 million yuan will go into the registered capital, and the rest will go into the capital reserve. After the capital increase, the registered capital of Yihao Metal will increase from 92.25 million yuan to 136.53 million yuan, and Yian Technology will hold 72.9730% of the equity of Yihao Metal. In addition, Yihao Metal plans to introduce other investment entities through public listing after the company completes the capital increase.

"Currently, there are many rumors in the market about the North American customer (generally referring to Apple) launching a foldable screen. We believe that if the North American customer launches a foldable screen product, it is likely to play a guiding role in the entire industry and solve the current pain points of foldable screens, which is a positive aspect for the market." Hinge supplier Jingyan Technology said at a recent investor communication meeting.

On July 2 local time, former US President Donald Trump posted on the social media platform "Truth Social" that he had reached a trade agreement with Vietnam. "Details will be announced later!" Trump then posted another message saying that all Vietnamese goods exported to the United States will face at least a 20% tariff, and Vietnam will "fully open its market" to the United States. The Vietnam News Agency reported later that day that General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Su Lin had a phone call with Trump regarding Vietnam-US relations and bilateral tariff negotiations. Trump emphasized that the United States will continue to cooperate with Vietnam to solve the problems affecting bilateral trade. Su Lin suggested that the US should recognize Vietnam's market economy status as soon as possible and lift the export restrictions on some high-tech products to Vietnam.

On the afternoon of July 3, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference. At the meeting, a foreign media reporter asked: The United States and Vietnam have reached a trade agreement, and part of the agreement means that a 20% tariff will be imposed on Vietnamese goods exported to the United States, and a 40% tariff will be imposed on any goods considered to be transported through the country. Therefore, this will affect some Chinese goods passing through Vietnam. What is China's comment on this? Mao Ning said that China always advocates that all parties should resolve economic and trade disputes through equal dialogue and consultation, and relevant negotiations and agreements should not target or harm the interests of third parties.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", author: Song Ziqiao, published by 36Kr with authorization.