Apple opened preorders for its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, on Friday at a starting price of $1,999. The 2TB model costs more than $3,000. First-day pickup inventory has already sold out at some stores, while estimated online delivery dates in some markets have slipped to late January next year.
For Apple, the Duo is more than its biggest hardware redesign in years. It is also an attempt to establish a new price tier above the iPhone Pro and Pro Max. The product’s early performance will help determine whether consumers are willing to view a nearly $2,000 iPhone as an identity and lifestyle product—and whether Apple can continue improving the quality of its revenue as smartphone growth slows.
Apple described preorder demand as “very strong” and said it would continue accepting online orders while accelerating deliveries to customers.
Foldables command more revenue than volume
IDC expects foldable phones to account for slightly more than 2% of global smartphone shipments this year, but nearly 7% of industry revenue. By 2030, foldables are projected to generate about 10% of smartphone revenue while representing only around 3% of shipments. That gap between unit volume and revenue is central to Apple’s opportunity in the category.
Nabila Popal, IDC’s global senior research director for its consumer devices team, described the Duo as an aspirational foldable product. Foldable technology itself is not new: Android manufacturers have offered such devices for years. The bigger change, she said, is Apple bringing the form factor to its large iPhone user base and to consumers already deeply tied to the Apple ecosystem.
Apple’s work on foldable devices has been under way for years. Publicly available documents indicate that John Ternus, now Apple’s CEO, and five other Apple engineers filed a patent application for a foldable electronic device in 2011. Ternus later presented the iPhone Duo alongside Molly Anderson, Apple’s vice president of industrial design, at the company’s September 9 event.
Limited supply reinforces the premium positioning
The Duo’s $1,999 entry price is below some earlier market expectations. Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights, said many in the industry had expected a starting price of $2,400 to $2,500. Apple’s lower entry point suggests it is not positioning the Duo solely as a niche showcase product, but is seeking a meaningful share of the foldable market.
Supply constraints could nonetheless strengthen the product’s premium image in the short term. Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint, expects early demand to exceed supply. Apple has an installed base of roughly 1.4 billion iPhones, so even a small share of those users becoming early buyers could outstrip an initial supply estimated at around 6 million units or fewer. IDC also expects availability to be constrained at launch because of the complexity of the folding mechanism and Apple’s manufacturing and quality requirements.
Apple has previously tested the boundaries of the luxury market. The first Apple Watch included an 18-karat-gold Edition model starting at $10,000, and the company has maintained a long-running partnership with Hermès for premium bands and designs. When former Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts joined Apple in 2014 to oversee retail and online stores, Apple also brought more luxury-sector display and marketing practices into its stores and products. The Duo extends that approach to Apple’s largest business, the iPhone.
Average selling price matters more than units
IDC expects Apple to ship about 7 million Duo units this year, equivalent to roughly 3% of its total iPhone shipments in 2026. Popal expects shipments to grow by another 70% next year. That would give Apple about 40% of the global foldable market and put it ahead of Samsung and Huawei as the category’s largest manufacturer. She also expects Apple’s Duo shipments over the next six months could approach the full-year 2025 volume previously achieved by the market leader.
For Apple, however, revenue per device may be more important than unit volume. Analysts expect many Duo buyers to come from Apple’s existing iPhone base. Some may otherwise have bought a Pro Max and instead upgrade to a foldable model costing several hundred dollars more. Others may purchase the Duo as a second phone and use Apple’s ecosystem to move between devices.
Moving customers from a high-end iPhone priced at about $1,200 to a Duo starting near $2,000 may raise Apple’s average selling price and iPhone revenue even without materially increasing total shipments. JPMorgan said the Duo’s high average selling price could have a disproportionate effect on iPhone revenue. Even if total iPhone shipments remain broadly flat next year, the iPhone 18 cycle could be driven more by pricing and product mix than by volume growth.
Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, said Apple is entering the cycle with a high comparison base after what has been one of its strongest upgrade periods in recent years. If the Duo fails to generate incremental growth, Apple’s revenue performance could remain subdued. The device could contribute in several ways: attracting loyal users who would otherwise buy a Pro Max, winning consumers who chose Android foldables because Apple had no comparable product, and drawing attention to the broader iPhone range through in-store demonstrations.
Luria also noted that some consumers may visit an Apple store to try the Duo but ultimately buy a standard iPhone or iPhone Pro priced at roughly half as much. Even when visitors do not purchase the foldable model, the Duo could support sales of other iPhones by increasing store traffic and giving customers a prominent new product to explore.
Can premium pricing offset longer upgrade cycles?
Apple is pushing the iPhone further upmarket as the global smartphone industry faces slower growth. Consumers are keeping their existing phones for longer, weakening replacement demand. That leaves Apple looking for ways to sustain revenue from its core product when shipment growth is limited.
Wayne Lam, an analyst at TechInsights, said the iPhone is approaching its 20th year and that moving further upmarket is an important way for Apple to maintain quarterly revenue at its current position in the market. Lam sees the Duo as an aspirational or luxury-oriented product, but believes foldable phones have a better chance than Apple’s Vision products of becoming a larger category over time. Artificial intelligence could also change how consumers interact with devices and expand the situations in which these products are used.
The pricing strategy carries a potential cost. Lam said higher prices could lead consumers to delay upgrades, creating a cycle in which more expensive devices are held for longer and overall demand falls. At the same time, the Duo’s limited initial supply leaves the market watching whether current preorder momentum can continue and whether high-end buyers’ willingness to pay for a new form factor translates into sustained shipments and revenue growth.
Delivery times for the iPhone 18 Pro have shortened from the previous generation in some markets, while demand for the more expensive Pro Max has remained comparatively steady. Against that backdrop, the Duo’s ability to draw consumers toward the top of Apple’s product range will be a key measure of the company’s premiumization strategy.