DUBAI: Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, went on sale in markets worldwide on Friday at a price of around $2,000, but its launch drew less fanfare than the excitement typically seen when new iPhone models hit stores.
Demand remained strong in cities ranging from Singapore and Shanghai to London and San Francisco. However, limited supplies meant fewer scenes of long queues outside Apple stores and customers waiting overnight, which have traditionally marked the launch of new iPhones.
Rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies have been selling expensive foldable phones for years. The arrival of the iPhone Duo will test whether Apple can reshape the relatively small foldable-phone market in the same way the iPhone transformed the smartphone industry.
The launch also presents an early challenge for Apple’s new chief executive, John Ternus, a former head of hardware who unveiled the device barely a week after taking office in September.
Online pre-orders for the iPhone Duo opened a week earlier, and demand surged so quickly that estimated delivery dates were pushed back to late January within minutes.
Apple described the customer response as “beyond extraordinary.”
During the pre-order period, the company limited purchases to two phones per customer and also restricted sales for shoppers visiting its retail stores in person.
In China, France, Hong Kong, India and Japan, the device was available only to customers who had placed online orders.
In Sydney, where sales of Apple’s first foldable phone began at the company’s flagship store on Friday, customers lined up outside before the store opened at 8 a.m. local time. The new device’s passport-like shape drew attention as buyers gathered for its release.
