Apple’s debut of its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, has captured a lot of attention. The Chinese market is set to open pre-orders on October 16th, and there has already been a surge in demand. The number of reservations at just JD.com’s official store has exceeded 1.139 million. Some “purchase agents” are even offering loans to snatch up the phones, and the price has been driven up to 99,000 yuan (RMB).
According to information from Apple’s official website in China, the iPhone Duo will begin pre-orders at 8 p.m. on October 16th and will be officially released on the 23rd. The base model with 256GB is priced at a suggested 15,999 yuan, while the highest specification 2TB model is priced at 26,499 yuan.
Reports from “First Financial” indicate that many merchants are posting iPhone Duo purchase pages on second-hand trading platforms like “Xianyu”, offering purchasing agent services with fees ranging from 500 to 700 yuan. Some merchants are even hiking up the service fee to 3,000 or 5,000 yuan.
Many scalpers are enticing buyers with promises of “getting stock on the first day.” Some scalpers have clearly stated that they will raise the price by an additional 3,000 to 5,000 yuan on top of the initial price, depending on market conditions.
According to “Jiemian News”, a scalper interviewed mentioned plans to get loans of millions from banks. As long as they can secure the supply, the profits will far exceed the bank interest. They also plan to recruit part-time staff for photography services, aiming to make a significant profit.
On September 10th at 1 a.m. Beijing time, Apple held its 2026 Autumn new product launch event, formally introducing the Apple iPhone 18 Pro series and other new products. The new generation Pro series has seen a noticeable price increase, with the top-end iPhone 18 Pro Max starting at 21,499 yuan. The iPhone Duo, the first foldable phone, is the most expensive product at the event, starting from 15,999 yuan and going up to 26,499 yuan for the 2TB top model.
According to a survey by “Chinese Entrepreneur” magazine, some sellers on second-hand trading platforms like Xianyu have already pushed the price of the iPhone Duo to 90,000 yuan, with some asking as high as 99,000 yuan.
“Shanghai Securities News” reported that on the trend e-commerce platform “Dewu App”, pre-sale orders for the iPhone Duo 256GB (official price of 15,999 yuan) have seen transactions with significant markups, reaching 39,999 yuan and 49,999 yuan.
Mobile industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that the assembly shipment volume of the iPhone Duo in the third quarter of this year is only between 500,000 to 1 million units. In comparison, the estimated shipment volume of the iPhone 18 Pro series exceeds 20 million units. The difference in supply scale between the two is quite substantial. With limited initial quantities and Apple venturing into the foldable phone market for the first time, the new device has inadvertently become an easy target for scalpers.
Apple’s official website introduces that the iPhone 18 Pro series will be available for pre-order starting from 8 p.m. on September 12th and officially launched on September 18th. The iPhone Duo comes in two color options – Star White and Night Sky. The new model will be available for pre-order starting from 8 p.m. on October 16th and officially launched on October 23rd.
The iPhone Duo features a new design, offering the largest iPhone display to date. When closed, the iPhone Duo can be comfortably used with one hand and easily fits into a pocket. Its 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR display outer screen provides about 90% of the screen display area compared to the iPhone 18 Pro. When unfolded, the 7.6-inch Super Retina XDR inner screen expands the display area by approximately 50% compared to the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
As of September 13th, the number of pre-orders for the iPhone Duo at JD.com’s flagship store alone has exceeded 1.139 million.
According to a report released by Counterpoint Research on September 7th, Apple is expected to capture a 25% shipment share in its first year in the foldable phone market, surpassing Huawei’s 22% to take second place globally; while Samsung continues to lead with 38%.