Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, is generating significant pre-order excitement in China, more than a month before its official sale. As demand surges, speculators on secondhand trading platforms are asking for prices several times higher than the retail price.
According to Apple’s official website in China, pre-sales for the iPhone Duo will begin at 8 p.m. on October 16, with the official launch set for October 23. The base model with 256GB of storage is priced at 15,999 yuan (approximately $2,321), while the top-tier 2TB model costs 26,499 yuan.
Chinese media outlets, including TMTPost and China Business News, report that interest in securing the device has been evident for over a month prior to the pre-order period.
On platforms like Xianyu, services for 'purchase assistance' on launch day have emerged, with fees typically ranging from 200 to 1,000 yuan. Sellers claim an 80% success rate for these purchase assistance services.
Some resellers, known as 'huangniu' (speculative resellers), have listed the iPhone Duo for as much as 90,000 yuan (about $13,000), which is more than three times the official price of the top-tier 2TB model. However, this figure represents asking prices rather than actual transaction amounts.
China's Jiemian News highlighted a case of a reseller seeking a bank loan of several million yuan to secure a large inventory of the iPhone Duo. The reseller believes that the potential profits will far exceed the bank interest, and plans to hire part-time workers to assist with purchases on launch day.
The price premiums before launch are attributed to expectations of limited initial supply. Japan's Nikkei reported earlier this month that the daily production of the iPhone Duo was only in the hundreds as of August. The complexity of manufacturing the foldable structure is a significant factor, leading analysts to suggest that Apple’s early success hinges on its production capacity.
Apple analyst Guo Mingchi previously projected in July that the assembly shipments of the iPhone Duo in the third quarter would be limited to between 500,000 and 1 million units. If consumers face wait times of 4 to 6 weeks or longer, the premiums in the secondhand market could reach 50% to 100% above the official retail price.
Interest in the iPhone Duo is rapidly increasing in China. According to China Fund News, as of the evening of September 13, over 1.2 million people had applied to 'reserve' the iPhone Duo on JD.com’s Apple flagship store. However, since Apple’s official pre-sales do not start until October 16, this number may not translate into actual purchase orders.
Globally, the outlook for the iPhone Duo appears optimistic. Market research firm Counterpoint Research projected on September 7 that Apple will capture 25% of the global foldable phone market in its first year, surpassing Huawei's expected 22% and positioning itself as the second-largest player after Samsung, which is projected to hold 38%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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