Apple to unveil new iPhone lineup Sept. 9, with foldable model seen selling 10 million units

Apple will unveil a new hardware lineup, including a foldable iPhone, on Sept. 9 (local time). The event is expected to mark the debut of John Ternus, the hardware specialist set to lead the company after Tim Cook steps down as CEO at the end of this month.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, announced Wednesday on the company's website that a product launch event was scheduled for Sept. 9, writing "Surprise and shine." The market widely expects Apple to introduce a foldable iPhone at the event for the first time.

In a report released Wednesday, market research firm IDC projected that Apple would sell more than 10 million foldable iPhones in the device's first year alone, with sales reaching about 17 million units by next year. IDC forecast that Apple would enter the foldable smartphone market with a 31% share this year — a sharp contrast to last year, when Android held 88% and Huawei's HarmonyOS held 12% — and that Apple would capture 40% of the overall foldable market by next year.

"Apple's entry into the foldable smartphone market fundamentally changes the trajectory of the market itself," said Nabila Popal, IDC's senior research director. "Without Apple, foldable device shipments would have posted a double-digit year-over-year decline."

IDC also projected that amid a 16.7 percent contraction in the overall smartphone market driven by a sharp rise in memory chip prices, the average selling price would nonetheless climb 27.6 percent year-over-year to $581.

The market also expects Apple's new iPhone to carry a significant price increase over existing models. Apple has raised prices on major product lines such as the iPad and Mac computers, citing higher component costs including memory chips, while holding off on increasing iPhone prices.