Apple’s First Foldable iPhone Hit China, and Resellers Were Offering Buyers an Extra $448 to Give It Up as Orders Slipped Into 2027
When Apple’s first foldable iPhone went on sale worldwide on October 23, resellers outside its flagship store in Beijing were offering customers extra money for their newly purchased devices, according to CNBC’s report on the iPhone Duo launch in China. At the Sanlitun store, reseller Alex Wang offered an additional 3,000 Chinese yuan, approximately $448, to buy a customer’s phone immediately. The report documented the offers but did not establish that every proposed transaction was completed.
The unusual scene brought a second market into view alongside Apple’s official launch, where customers were collecting devices and resellers were looking for opportunities to acquire them. Rather than waiting for another customer to place an order, these buyers were attempting to obtain phones directly from people who already had them. Their offers suggested that some resellers expected immediate access to the new device to be worth considerably more than its retail price.
About 100 Customers Gathered at Sanlitun
Mary Tong, an Apple customer who had reserved the phone, arrived at 6 a.m. and was first in a line of approximately 100 people outside the Sanlitun store. She viewed Apple’s entry into the foldable category as overdue, saying, “I think many Chinese do prefer foldable phones.” Her comments reflected her own assessment of consumer preferences, rather than a broader survey of Chinese smartphone buyers.
Other people without reservations also appeared before the store opened, hoping they might still find a way to purchase the new device. That was a different situation from the one facing customers who had already secured their orders and were there to collect their phones. The crowd showed that the launch attracted attention, although its size alone could not establish how many additional customers ultimately obtained a device.
The Price Started at RMB 15,999
Apple’s official mainland China online store listed the 256GB iPhone Duo at RMB 15,999, with the 512GB model priced at RMB 17,999. Buyers choosing 1TB of storage faced a price of RMB 21,499, while the 2TB version cost RMB 26,499. The device was available in Star White and Night Sky, giving customers a choice of two finishes across the listed storage configurations.
Against the entry-level price, a 3,000-yuan resale offer represented roughly 19% of the phone’s original retail cost. That was a substantial potential premium for someone who had just paid Apple for a new device, although the proportion would vary depending on the model purchased. Even so, an advertised premium does not establish what customers were willing to accept or how widespread such offers were.
What Made the iPhone Duo Different
Apple introduced the Duo as its first foldable iPhone in September, presenting it as a device that could work as a conventional smartphone when closed and offer a much larger display when opened. According to Apple’s official product announcement, the phone has a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner screen. The company designed the two displays to provide a more continuous experience as users move between the folded and unfolded configurations.
The hardware also includes Apple’s A20 Pro chip, a precision hinge, a vapor-chamber cooling system, and a dual-battery design. Those features support the company’s pitch that the phone can handle entertainment, gaming, and multitasking without requiring users to carry a separate large-screen device for every task. However, the specifications alone do not establish how customers will rate the phone’s everyday practicality, camera performance, or software after extended use.
Buying One Was Not Simply a Matter of Walking Into a Store
Availability was tightly controlled at launch, particularly in mainland China. Apple did not permit walk-in purchases of the Duo there on October 23, and the company’s online storefront limited customers to two devices per order. In its pre-launch coverage of the phone’s limited supply and global rollout, Reuters reported that purchases were restricted to online preorders in several markets and that delivery estimates had moved to late January shortly after preorders opened.
These limitations help explain why resellers were waiting near customers collecting their reserved devices rather than depending entirely on phones available for immediate retail purchase. Someone leaving a store with a new handset potentially had something another buyer could not obtain through an ordinary order that day. That created an opportunity for resellers, even though the available reporting did not quantify the number of phones available at launch or the total volume of resale activity.
One Delayed Customer Still Wanted the Phone
Zhang Zheng tried to order the Duo online but was discouraged by a delivery estimate stretching into January 2027. He remained interested in the device, explaining that he believed it could be useful for work and liked its appearance. His experience showed how a long wait could discourage an immediate purchase without eliminating interest in the product itself.
His situation also illustrated the difference between wanting a new device and being able to obtain it when needed. Some customers had already secured their phones, while others were considering whether waiting for another delivery date made sense. The report did not establish whether Zhang subsequently bought the phone through another seller or whether he eventually received one.
Resellers Expected the Premium to Last, but That Was Only a Prediction
Wang expected elevated resale prices to persist for approximately half a month because he believed supply would remain tight. That was his own expectation, not an official forecast from Apple or a verified prediction of how the market would behave. His view depended on the assumption that buyers would continue looking for immediate access to the device while the available supply remained constrained.
There is an important difference between a reseller offering additional money and a reseller successfully completing a purchase. The reporting did not confirm that Wang or another seller completed a transaction at the quoted premium, nor did it provide a tally of successful resale deals. Without those details, the offer is best understood as evidence of an attempted resale opportunity rather than proof of a widespread secondary market.
China Already Had a Major Foldable-Phone Market
Apple was entering a category with an established customer base in China, rather than introducing foldable phones to a market unfamiliar with the format. Counterpoint Research’s analysis of China’s foldable-smartphone market found that sales increased 27% in 2024, identifying China as the world’s largest and one of its most competitive markets for foldable devices. That historical growth helps explain the attention surrounding Apple’s arrival, although it does not measure demand for the Duo specifically.
Counterpoint’s 2024 analysis also found that Huawei accounted for roughly half of Chinese foldable-phone sales, while book-style devices made up 67% of purchases. Despite the growth, foldable phones still represented only around 3% of China’s overall smartphone sales in that analysis. The category was therefore significant enough to attract premium-device makers, but it remained a relatively small part of the broader smartphone market.
Huawei and Xiaomi Were Already Fighting for These Buyers
The competition was well established before Apple began selling its own foldable phone. In September, Reuters reported that Huawei and Xiaomi had launched premium foldable devices ahead of Apple’s product announcement. Huawei’s Mate XT2 was a triple-folding device priced from RMB 19,999, while Xiaomi’s 18 Fold was listed between RMB 10,999 and RMB 14,999.
Huawei entered Apple’s launch period with a particularly strong position in the Chinese market. According to the research figures cited in Reuters’ report, Huawei accounted for 68% of China’s foldable-phone shipments in the second quarter of 2026. The same report placed Huawei’s share of the overall Chinese smartphone market at 22.6%, compared with Apple’s 18.1% and Xiaomi’s 12.4%. Those figures show why Apple’s new hardware faced an established competitive field, even if its entry attracted considerable attention.
Apple’s AI Features Faced a Separate Timeline in China
The launch also raised questions about the software available to Chinese customers, particularly Apple’s artificial-intelligence features. On October 14, Chinese authorities approved Alibaba AI models for use in the Duo and other Apple devices, according to the South China Morning Post’s reporting on the regulatory approval. The approved systems included Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen, also known as Qwen, and Tongyi Wanxiang, alongside Apple Intelligence.
CNBC reported that Apple planned to begin beta testing a version of Apple Intelligence for mainland China during October. The planned features included live translation, Clean Up in Photos, and writing tools. This created a distinction between the phone’s retail availability and the rollout of some of its software capabilities, which were still being introduced under region-specific conditions.
The Revamped Siri Was Still Missing From the Mainland Picture
Siri remained a separate limitation in China’s AI rollout. According to CNBC’s reporting, Chinese official media had cited former Apple CEO Tim Cook as saying that the revamped Siri AI would not yet be available in the country. As a result, the arrival of Apple’s first foldable phone did not mean that Chinese customers would immediately receive every AI capability associated with the wider product experience.
Customer John Zhao had tried Apple Intelligence while working overseas and expected the mainland version to be less impressive. That assessment was a personal expectation, not a systematic comparison of the available features across regions. Nevertheless, it showed that some buyers were evaluating the software as well as the phone’s physical design when deciding what they wanted from Apple’s new device.
The International Launch Produced Both Excitement and Reservations
The reaction extended well beyond Beijing. In its report on customers reacting to the iPhone Duo’s worldwide launch, Reuters documented queues in cities including Singapore, Shanghai, London, and Berlin. Customers discussed the phone’s slim design, hinge, and larger display, with some seeing its ability to combine smartphone and tablet-like functions as a major attraction.
Early reviews also identified compromises, including camera limitations, software that had not been fully adapted to the new display, and reduced convenience when performing quick tasks with the phone folded. Those drawbacks did not erase the excitement around Apple’s entry into the category, but they gave potential buyers reasons to consider whether the benefits justified the premium price. The early reaction was mixed rather than a clear consensus that the new format was right for every iPhone owner.
The Bigger Question Is Whether the Attention Will Last
Before the phone reached stores, TrendForce forecast that iPhone Duo shipments could reach approximately five million units in 2026. That projection would give Apple a 24.8% share of the global foldable-smartphone market by shipments, according to the research firm’s estimate. TrendForce also expected the entire global foldable-phone market to reach around 20.2 million shipments in 2026, representing growth of just 0.5% from the previous year. Those numbers were forecasts issued before the phone went on sale, not verified sales results.
In Beijing, the clearest sign of possible resale demand was a reseller offering an additional 3,000 yuan to acquire a newly purchased device. Neither that offer nor the line of roughly 100 customers establishes how many phones Apple sold, how many resellers obtained devices, or whether the premiums will last. The more consequential test will be whether Apple’s first foldable iPhone can turn launch-day attention into sustained demand in a market where consumers already have established alternatives.
