Apple bets iPhone Duo can remake foldable market as sales begin

Apple’s first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, goes on sale on Friday, in what Reuters calls an early test for new chief executive John Ternus — the former hardware chief who took charge in September and unveiled the Duo barely a week later (https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/apple-bets-iphone-duo-can-remake-foldable-market-sales-begin-2026-10-22/).

Within minutes of pre-orders opening last Friday, estimated delivery dates had slipped to late January, and Apple called the response “nothing short of extraordinary”. Early reviews have praised the $1,999 device’s premium design and sturdy, barely visible hinge, but flagged camera compromises — including no telephoto lens — and third-party apps that still need reworking for the new display size. Longtime Apple commentator John Gruber wrote the Duo feels like “an extraordinarily polished prototype — not a finished product that I’d want to buy and carry”.

Walk-in stock will be scarce: limited supplies in the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico and much of Britain and Europe, while China, France, Hong Kong, India and Japan are online-order only; in Macau, where it is walk-in only, fans queued for hours (https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/22/iphone-duo-australia-launch/). It is already Friday in Australia and New Zealand, where pre-ordered Duos are arriving, reports MacRumors; the phone has a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display.

In India the ₹2,99,900 Duo is in-store restricted to pre-orders, with a two-per-customer cap, reports the Financial Express (https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology/apples-foldable-sale-in-india-comes-with-purchase-curbs/4367398/). IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo expects Apple to take 44% of foldable value in 2026 on 31% of units — and to lead the category by 2027.