On a crisp October morning in Singapore, a crowd gathered on Orchard Road before dawn for Apple's first foldable iPhone, the Duo, whose limited shelves were never going to meet the hunger for it. The scene is a familiar one in the long history of new gadgets: a few people willing to wait out the night, and a larger, quieter market that springs up online when supply runs thin. Here the online side ran to prices nearly three times the official starting figure, a reminder that scarcity turns a product into a commodity of waiting as much as of engineering. Whether that premium outlasts the first r
iPhone Duo Launch Brings Limited Stores Stock, Online Resale Prices Soaring Past $8,000
Nearly three times the starting retail price
Mark
Why does a resale listing at $8,888 matter when the retail price is $3,099?
Mimi
It shows how tight supply is on day one. Pre-order shipping estimates already run into early 2027, so some buyers will pay a lot to skip the wait.
Mark
And the queue outside Orchard Road?
Mimi
Over 200 people, with Adnan Mehta first in line since 5.30am the day before. He and two friends flew in from Mumbai for it.
Luke
Careful with the resale numbers, though. Those are asking prices. Nothing here says anyone actually paid $8,888.
Mimi
Fair. The listings range from about $3,000 to over $6,000, with a few outliers at $8,888 and $6,899. The top figures are the exception.
Mark
Why would India be a source of buyers flying in?
Mimi
Apple said India and several other Asian markets would have no walk-in stock. That may be part of why Mehta travelled, though he only said he wanted to enjoy the technology and the city.
Luke
Right, the reason India is on the list isn't given, and neither is how many units Singapore stores received. We don't know how limited limited is.
Mark
So what's still open?
Luke
Whether premiums last, and whether supply expands. The reporting is a snapshot from about 11.30am on launch day.
El Pulso
- A queue of nearly 200 people was already forming outside Apple's Orchard Road flagship before dawn, with one man having camped since the previous morning.
- Physical stores had only limited iPhone Duo stock, and pre-order shipping estimates were already pushing into early 2027.
- Over 700 Carousell listings appeared within hours, with asking prices from about $3,000 up to $8,888 against a $3,099 retail price.
- Several Asian markets, including China, Japan, India and South Korea, were excluded from walk-in sales, leaving buyers with few options beyond resale.
- The key question now is whether Apple expands supply and whether launch-day resale premiums hold once more units reach customers.
On a crisp October morning in Singapore, a crowd gathered on Orchard Road before dawn for Apple's first foldable iPhone, the Duo, whose limited shelves were never going to meet the hunger for it. The scene is a familiar one in the long history of new gadgets: a few people willing to wait out the night, and a larger, quieter market that springs up online when supply runs thin. Here the online side ran to prices nearly three times the official starting figure, a reminder that scarcity turns a product into a commodity of waiting as much as of engineering. Whether that premium outlasts the first rush will depend on how far Apple's supply stretches across the region.
By 7.30am on October 23, the queue outside Apple's Orchard Road flagship had swelled to almost 200 people, all hoping to get their hands on the iPhone Duo, the company's first foldable smartphone. Among the earliest arrivals was Adnan Mehta, a 36-year-old data professional who had started waiting the previous morning. He had flown in from Mumbai with two friends, keen to explore both the new device and Singapore itself.
While those in line waited on the pavement, a parallel market was already thriving online. Within hours, more than 700 listings for the phone surfaced on Carousell, with asking prices running from about $3,000 to over $6,000. The most extreme offer was an $8,888 listing for the 256GB model, nearly three times Apple's $3,099 starting price. Some sellers even posted screenshots of pre-orders with pickup details from Apple stores.
The shortage reaches well beyond Singapore. Pre-order delivery estimates stretch into early 2027, and Apple had withheld walk-in stock from several Asian markets, including China, Japan, India and South Korea. For buyers unwilling to wait that long, the resale market has become the only route to the phone.
The coming weeks will show whether Apple widens supply to these markets and whether the steep resale premiums last once more units reach their owners.
By 7.30am on Oct 23, half an hour before Apple's Orchard Road flagship opened its doors, the queue outside had grown to almost 200 people. They had come for the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable smartphone, which went on sale that day at physical stores worldwide in limited quantities.
First in line was Adnan Mehta, 36, a clinical data management professional who had been waiting since 5.30am on Oct 22, a full day earlier. He and two friends had flown in from Mumbai specifically for the launch. He said they wanted to explore the technology of the new iPhone's features and the city of Singapore at the same time. When he arrived, the store had set up no cordons, so he began queuing at a corner by the storefront. By the time the doors were due to open, more than 200 people had gathered for a first-hand look at the device.
While the walk-in queue formed on the pavement, a different market was already running online. At around 11.30am on Oct 23, The Straits Times found more than 700 listings for the newly launched phone on the marketplace Carousell. One of them was a certified listing by the platform itself, showing five units left in stock.
The asking prices ranged from about $3,000 to over $6,000, across variants with 256GB, 512GB or 2TB of storage, in either Star White or Night Sky. Some sellers attached screengrabs of pre-orders, with details for pick-up from a physical Apple store.
The highest prices sat well above that range. One Star White phone with 256GB of storage was listed at $8,888. A Night Sky model with 2TB was listed at $6,899. Apple's official recommended retail prices begin at $3,099 for the 256GB version and rise to $4,899 for 2TB, so the top 256GB listing was nearly three times the starting retail price.
The scarcity behind those numbers is not confined to Singapore. Pre-order shipping estimates were already stretching into early 2027, which leaves buyers who want the phone sooner with few routes other than the resale market. Apple had also said ahead of the launch that several places in Asia would have no stock of the iPhone Duo for walk-in customers. The list covered mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
What to watch now is whether Apple widens supply, including in the Asian markets left out of walk-in sales, and whether the resale premiums seen on launch day hold once more units reach buyers.
Citas Notables
He and his friends wanted to explore the iPhone's new features and the city of Singapore at the same time.— Adnan Mehta, 36, first in the Orchard Road queue (paraphrased)
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