While Apple was not the pioneer in unveiling a passport-shaped folding smartphone this year, the company found itself grappling with imitators. According to analysis by colleague Dom Preston, maintaining secrecy is exceptionally difficult within the tech industry, as both Apple and its rivals rely on overlapping global supplier networks.
Apple CEO John Ternus and head of marketing Greg “Joz” Joswiak discussed the issue during an interview with Tom’s Guide’s Mark Spoonauer and TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff. Joz noted that information about the foldable project had leaked, allowing competitors to grasp key design elements.
“People knew through leaks that we were working on a foldable,” Joz said. “Unfortunately, they got the aspect ratio, and a lot of coincidental instances of people fin…”
Overlapping supply chains make total secrecy impossible now. Apple should have locked down their foldable component orders tighter.
Did Joz finish that sentence about ‘coincidental instances’? I need to know what exactly the imitators copied!
It is wild that leaking info just helped competitors catch up instead of slowing them down. Classic Apple paradox.