Apple unsure when iPhone Duo supply will meet demand after foldable sells out

Centre · 2Apple's foldable iPhone Duo sold out soon after it went on sale, and the company says it does not know when supply will catch up with demand. 1 2 Centre · 2On an earnings call on Monday 2 November, Apple's chief operating officer said: "iPhone Duo is constrained as of today" and that "at this time, it's really hard to predict when supply and demand will be in balance." 2 1 Centre · 2John Ternus, who became Apple's chief executive in September, taking over from Tim Cook, said he was "thrilled" with the early response and that Apple is working to get the phone to customers quickly. 1 2

Centre · 2The phone costs $1,999 (BBC says £1,999 in the UK) and went on sale on 23 October, according to ZDNET. ZDNET reports that new orders face shipping times extending into 2027 and that some carriers, including Verizon, have reportedly offered gift cards as apologies for delays. 1 2 Centre · 1ZDNET says Ternus announced Apple will deepen its partnership with Perryman, a titanium producer supplying parts for the device. It also cites Apple telling the Financial Times that demand was "nothing short of extraordinary", and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggesting Apple expected supply problems all along. 2 Centre · 2Some buyers have reported cracked screens. BBC says Apple said the previous week it would replace phones affected by an issue that caused a "small number" to crack along the inside fold, and that executives did not raise the issue on the call. ZDNET describes the cracked-display reports as another strike against Apple, and notes Korean reports that Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 sales rose 20% in the week after the Duo launched. 1 2

Centre · 1For the three months to 26 September, which did not include Duo sales, Apple said iPhone sales rose 17% to $57bn and Mac sales rose 27% to $10.7bn. Overall sales rose 15% for the year to $479bn, while iPad and wearables sales fell 10% and 7%. 1 Centre · 2Apple said most of its devices remain supply-constrained, partly because of difficulty obtaining chips built on "advanced nodes", mostly made by TSMC, with constraints expected to continue into next year, especially for iPads and Macs. Executives also cited "unprecedented" memory cost increases driven by AI data-centre demand, which BBC says led Apple to raise prices on essentially all hardware by around 20%; ZDNET says the COO described price rises as made "reluctantly". 1 2