(Oct 16): Shipping estimates for Apple Inc’s first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, slipped into December and beyond within minutes of the company opening pre-orders on Friday.

The extended timelines suggest that strong demand and sharply constrained supply will make the US$1,999 (RM8,159) device challenging to purchase on its Oct 23 release date or in the near future.

The latest shipping estimates shown on Apple’s online store applied to both colours of the iPhone Duo, and in all storage configurations, ranging from 256 gigabytes (GB) to two terabytes.

Pre-order customers reported delayed delivery dates even after taking Apple’s recommended steps of reserving their preferred colour and storage size ahead of time in an attempt to speed up the buying process. 

Apple retail stores also ran out of launch-day stock of the iPhone Duo, the company’s first-ever foldable device, almost instantly after pre-orders began at 8am in New York. 

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Anurag Rana and Josh Christensen said in a note on Friday that iPhone Duo sales could exceed their earlier estimates of 14 million units and US$28 billion in sales for the company’s fiscal 2027 year. If Apple can convince current Pro and Pro Max owners to switch to the base version of the foldable, they added, that would push up the iPhone’s average selling price by 82% and 67%, respectively.

Shares of Apple rose as much as 1.7% to US$347.82 in New York before paring some of those gains. The stock was up 0.7% at 10.36am.

Compared with the debut of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in September, which went smoothly for customers who placed a timely order, securing an iPhone Duo was significantly more difficult. Apple is set to sell about six million units of the iPhone Duo this year, Counterpoint Research said last month.

Apple typically reserves some units for walk-in customers on release day, which could revive the long lines outside Apple and mobile carrier stores that were once an annual tradition for iPhone launches.

Uploaded by Felyx Teoh