iPhone Duo pre-orders open at $1,999 and sell out until January within minutes

[VoidStalker80]

Apple opened pre-orders for the iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone, on the morning of 16 October, and demand has been enormous. 9to5Mac's Chance Miller reports that prices start at $1,999. Early buyers were due to receive their phones on 23 October, but delivery estimates slipped into next year within minutes

By 8.30am Eastern time, every colour and storage option showed a delivery date of 25 January, and some buyers saw 29 January. 9to5Mac puts this down to strong demand combined with severely constrained supply. A separate report said the Apple Store website went down ahead of the rush

Supply looks like the main issue. A Nikkei Asia report last month said Apple was making only a few hundred units a day, far below a normal iPhone production ramp. Foldable screens are notoriously hard to manufacture at scale, so slow production is not surprising for a first generation device

Scalpers have already appeared. Dozens of pre-ordered units were listed on eBay at up to $5,200 within hours, which is more than two and a half times the starting price. Anyone tempted by those listings should be very careful

Apple has a long history of entering markets late and doing well, and the iPhone Duo seems to be following that pattern. Huge demand at $1,999 shows how much interest there is in a foldable from Apple. The challenge now is getting enough units into people's hands

Did you try to pre-order an iPhone Duo? And would you pay $1,999 for a first generation foldable?

iPhone Duo sells out immediately, now backordered until next year - 9to5Mac9to5mac.com

[GhostRider63]

Apple's store crashing before pre-orders is a classic launch day moment. Demand always surprises them, even when they expect it

Some things never change. I refreshed for twenty minutes before giving up

[Always_Brett36]

Scalpers asking $5,200 is ridiculous. Nobody should pay that

Wait until January and pay the normal price. Resale listings for pre-orders also carry a lot of risk. Some of those listings will never deliver