Apple’s Leaked Secret Could Be Big for This Tech Holding

Over the weekend, we read several reports about Apple’s AAPL long-expected move into the foldable form factor when it comes to iPads and iPhones. We’ve long suspected Apple would make such moves as it looks to tap into that market and stoke upgrade demand for those products.

For those not familiar with foldable tablets or smartphones, they offer a far larger screen size compared to current models offered by Apple and others. That larger screen real estate means greater demand for organic light-emitting diode displays and solutions for Universal Display OLED.

When it comes to Universal’s business and our position in OLED shares, this move by Apple is something we’ve been waiting for for two reasons: One is Apple’s position in both the smartphone and tablet markets, and the other is the copycat effect that ensues when Apple makes such a move. That follow-up response to foldables from competitors has the potential to turbocharge organic light-emitting diode display demand even further.

We say “even further” because figures for UBI Research indicate shipment of organic light-emitting diode panels rose to 247 million units in Q3 2024, up 7.8% sequentially and 32.6% year over year. Estimates peg those shipments reaching 800 million units this year, and research firm Omdia sees them hitting over 1 billion units in 2025. As we think about that forecast, it was made before this weekend’s Apple stories.

Per those reports, Apple is planning to introduce foldable devices — a larger device, intended to serve as a laptop, would have a screen that unfolds to be nearly as large as some desktop monitors, at about 19 inches. A smaller model would unfold to a display size that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, intended to serve as a foldable iPhone. Timing suggests a 2026 introduction.

With this “secret” now out in the open, we suspect we will see an ample number of foldable announcements at 2025 CES coming up in early January as well as other announcements that would confirm organic light-emitting diode adoption in a growing array of applications. That, along with upcoming December revenue reports from Taiwan Semi TSM and Foxconn, are the next OLED catalysts we see on the horizon.

We picked up some additional OLED shares last week near $159 and that means the Portfolio has a rather full plate. However, for newer members or those who need to shore up their position relative to the Portfolio, we see the current share price as a nice place to do so.

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At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long AAPL and OLED.