On a late-October morning, Apple opened preorders for its first foldable iPhone, and within half an hour the company's delivery promises for nearly every configuration had slipped to late January. It is a small, familiar scene in the long history of product launches: a few early hands receive the new thing on time, while the many who come after learn that the future arrives in queues. What it reveals, for now, is a gap between what people wanted and what the factories and warehouses could place in their hands on day one, and whether that gap becomes a lasting story or a passing one remains ope
Apple's iPhone Duo Delivery Dates Slip to January as Preorders Outpace Launch Inventory
Thirty minutes in, every Duo configuration said January 25
On a late-October morning, Apple opened preorders for its first foldable iPhone, and within half an hour the company's delivery promises for nearly every configuration had slipped to late January. It is a small, familiar scene in the long history of product launches: a few early hands receive the new thing on time, while the many who come after learn that the future arrives in queues. What it reveals, for now, is a gap between what people wanted and what the factories and warehouses could place in their hands on day one, and whether that gap becomes a lasting story or a passing one remains open.
By 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time, just half an hour after Apple opened preorders for its first foldable iPhone, the company's U.S. online store was already telling buyers that every version of the iPhone Duo would ship on January 25. The launch window had closed almost as soon as it opened.
The people who ordered at the very start will receive their phones on launch day, Friday, October 23. Everyone behind them saw their dates slide first into November, then December, and for some models to the end of January. The Duo comes in two colors and four storage sizes, and all eight combinations showed the same late date. The growing backlog suggests that early orders are outpacing the inventory Apple had ready.
Some who missed the early window voiced their disappointment on X. Bloomberg's Chris Welch noted that the iPhone 18 Pro launch in September had gone smoothly for those who ordered in time, while the Duo was significantly harder to get.
That gap invites speculation about the resale market. ZeroHedge suggests scarce units could sell on eBay for two or three times retail, though that remains a projection rather than something that has happened.
For Apple, the early signs point to strong demand, a welcome first hardware debut for CEO John Ternus. What is still unknown is how many units were built for launch and how many preorders came in during that first half hour. Watch whether the January 25 date holds, how the first deliveries go, and whether resale prices truly climb.
By 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time, thirty minutes after Apple opened preorders for its first foldable iPhone, the company's U.S. online store was already telling buyers that every configuration of the iPhone Duo would ship on January 25. The device had gone on sale at 5 a.m., and the window for a launch-week delivery had closed almost as soon as it opened.
The customers who ordered right at the start did get what they wanted. Those first buyers are set to receive their iPhone Duo on launch day, Friday, October 23. For everyone behind them, the estimates moved quickly: first into November, then December, and then, for some models, to the end of January.
The January 25 date, as reported by the Apple blog MacRumors, applied across the whole lineup. The Duo comes in two colors, Star White and Night Sky, and four storage sizes: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB. All eight combinations showed the same late-January date by the half-hour mark. The growing backlog suggests that initial orders are outpacing the inventory Apple has available for launch.
Some of the people who missed the early window were not happy about it, and took to X to say so. Bloomberg reporter Chris Welch drew a comparison with Apple's previous launch. The debut of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in September, he wrote, went smoothly for customers who ordered in good time. Getting an iPhone Duo, by contrast, was significantly more difficult.
The gap between a small first wave of deliveries and a long queue behind it raises an obvious question about the secondary market. ZeroHedge suggests that scarce launch inventory could push resale prices on platforms such as eBay to double or triple the retail price. Whether buyers will actually pay premiums like that, which the piece likens to the cost of a fairly used 2008 Toyota Corolla, remains to be seen. That is a projection, not something that has yet happened.
For Apple, the early signs read as a strong start. Demand running ahead of launch inventory is good news for the company's new CEO, John Ternus, whose first major hardware debut appears to have drawn more interest than the supply chain was ready to meet.
What the reporting does not establish is how many units Apple built for launch, or how many preorders it took in the first half hour. What to watch next: whether the January 25 date holds or moves, how the first week of deliveries on October 23 goes, and whether resale listings actually reach the double or triple pricing that has been predicted.
Citações Notáveis
Securing an iPhone Duo was significantly more difficult than the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max debut in September.— Chris Welch, Bloomberg (paraphrased)
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