Apple Plans to Release at Least Five New iPhones in the Coming Year — Nikkei Asia

Apple, which raised prices on its gadgets last week due to a component shortage, has drawn up one of its most ambitious release plans in recent memory: it plans to launch at least five new iPhone models over the next year, sources told Nikkei Asia. Among them, the standard iPhone 18 and the next iPhone Air will be unveiled in the first half of 2027, the article states. In addition, the company wants to update its lineup of more affordable smartphones, but a final decision has not yet been made.

At the same time, according to sources interviewed by the publication, Apple intends to focus on foldable devices and has increased its production plans for them in an effort to capture a larger market share. The American tech giant has instructed its suppliers to prepare for the release of about 10 million foldable iPhones this year, whereas just a few months ago, the forecast was for 7–8 million devices, the publication reports.

According to sources cited by Nikkei Asia, total iPhone production this year—including current and future models— will significantly exceed 220 million devices, as the company’s bargaining power when purchasing memory chips and other components is stronger than that of most of its competitors—thanks to its scale and high purchasing power. In particular, Apple has already secured components for the production of a total of 80 million new iPhones, which will be unveiled in the second half of 2026, including the first foldable iPhone.

By comparison, Xiaomi's Chinese competitors—Oppo and Vivo—have, according to Nikkei Asia, cut their annual production targets to less than 100 million smartphones, mainly due to the acute chip shortage.

“Chinese manufacturers are in a weaker position when it comes to securing additional shipments of memory chips or raising prices,” the head of a supplier that works with both Apple and Xiaomi told the publication. “This gives Apple an incentive to release new iPhones in the spring and regain some market share.”

The company did not respond to Nikkei Asia's request for comment.

A global memory shortage, driven by demand from the artificial intelligence industry, has led to rising costs across the consumer electronics sector. On June 25, Apple announced that due to soaring component costs—primarily memory chips—it was “forced to begin raising prices” on a number of devices, including Mac computers and iPad tablets. CNBC interpreted this statement as a hint of further price increases, and IDC Senior Research Director Nabila Popal said at the time that the iPhone would not be spared either.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently trying to expand its supplier base and is in talks to purchase memory chips for devices sold in China from local manufacturers ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies. However, both companies are included on the Pentagon’s list of organizations that it believes provide support to the Chinese armed forces. Apple did not comment on this information to the news agency.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor