By Aditya Soni, Christine Chen and Will Russell
SYDNEY/SHANGHAI/LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, arrived in stores around the world on Friday at a price of around $2,000, lower than previous iPhone launches.
From Singapore to Shanghai to London to Berlin, demand was strong, but with sales rationed, there were fewer of the queues and overnight campsites that once marked the arrival of new iPhones.
Rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies have been selling high-end foldable phones for years, and the Duo is a test of whether Apple “can reinvent the small foldable market like the iPhone did for smartphones.”
It’s also a first challenge for Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, the former hardware chief who unveiled the phone just a week after taking the job in September.
Apple’s estimated delivery dates for the Duo had fallen to late January within minutes of pre-orders opening a week ago, with demand outpacing supply. The American company described the response as “simply extraordinary”.
Apple has limited pre-orders to two handsets per customer and limited sales to walk-in buyers. In China, France, Hong Kong, India and Japan, they were only available to those who ordered online.
In Sydney, where the first Apple Store began selling the new passport-shaped phones on Friday, a queue formed outside before opening at 8 a.m. local time (9 p.m. GMT).
“It’s a bit of a luxury item for me, because it’s very expensive, but I just think, you know what? Life is too short,” said Simon Krishnan, a 48-year-old engineer who paid A$3,899 ($2,734) for a 512GB Duo.
Social media posts showed dozens of customers entering Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York as the iPhone maker’s marketing chief, Greg Joswiak, opened the doors. Some reports said people were camping outside the store as early as 4 a.m. local time (0800 GMT).
In China, a weak consumer market and rising memory costs have led to declining smartphone sales for six straight quarters, even as Apple’s market share has rebounded as some buyers have shifted to higher-end devices.
Liu Wei, a 26-year-old healthcare worker, already owns a foldable phone from Xiaomi, but still queues outside a Shanghai store from 6 a.m. for Apple’s first foldable phone.
“I’ve been using Apple products for many years and have more confidence (in the brand), so I bought one on launch day to try it out,” he said.
Many were waiting in line to pick up pre-orders, while others were hoping to get limited stock or browse display models.
Others were resellers.
In Hong Kong, May, 38, who declined to give her full name, bought a 256GB iPhone Duo, priced at HK$17,499 ($2,231.73), during an online presale and planned to resell it for a profit of about HK$4,000. “A few meals are worth money,” he joked.
Paul Francis, 53, was among dozens of fans who queued all night outside London’s Regent Street store in pouring rain.
“Some people think it was crazy. Me included,” the association official said.
MIXED OPINIONS
Early reviews praised the Duo’s design as well as its sturdy, barely-there hinge, a major feat for phones whose prominent creased screen has long been an inconvenience and potential deterrent for buyers.
But critics said camera compromises, including the lack of a telephoto lens, and third-party apps yet to be reworked for the new screen size, could disappoint some buyers.
They also said that the folded Duo is less practical for the quick tasks most users do on a daily basis and several prominent reviewers have recommended against it for many Apple customers.
“It’s been a lot of fun trying out the Duo for a week, but I feel like I’ve used an extraordinarily polished prototype – not a finished product I’d want to buy and carry around,” wrote longtime Apple commentator John Gruber.
Tech commentator Marques Brownlee said in a YouTube review that for a regular person who mostly texts and browses, “it’s probably a no. But if the $2,000 doesn’t mean much to you and you like the idea, after the learning curve and getting used to not having Face ID, it’s a really fun phone.”
In Berlin, YouTube content creator Patrick Wolter was impressed that the Duo functions as both a phone and an iPad.
“I always found it complicated to carry a separate tablet, especially since I already have a laptop and other equipment,” he said. “In the long term, it will probably end up replacing these other devices.”
HARD TO FIND
Apple’s entry into the relatively niche foldable device market could bring the format to a much wider audience, said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at market research firm IDC.
IDC expects Apple to take 44% of the market value of foldables in 2026 on 31% of units. By 2027, it will become the market leader in both value and units shipped, IDC predicts.
“Apple made a compelling case for this form factor,” Jeronimo said after spending a week with the Duo.
“Now comes the next test: turning enthusiasm into availability, adoption and a sustainable new chapter for the smartphone market,” Jeronimo said.
($1 = 1.4257 Australian dollars)
($1 = 7.8410 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru, Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Nicoco Chan in Shanghai, Joyce Zhou in Hong Kong and Christine Chen in Sydney, Matthias Baehr in Berlin, Will Russell and Ben Makori in London, additional reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; editing by Will Dunham, Christopher Cushing, Kate Mayberry, Alexander Smith and Leroy Leo)
