Apple sells out iPhone Duo launch stock from New York to Singapore

Apple quickly sold out of limited in-store stock for the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, as sales began worldwide on Friday, October 23. The launch combined a roughly US$2,000 price tag with scarce store inventory: Apple’s website offered new orders for delivery at the end of January, while some locations had no walk-in units early in the day. Supply differed by market.

Apple stores in the United States received about 50 to more than 200 Duo units per location, according to the Taiwan Times report. A Los Angeles store had none left for customers arriving after about 6:30 a.m. In China, France, Hong Kong, India and Japan, customers could buy the phone only through online orders, CNA reported.

The New York Post described queues outside New York stores, with some customers waiting overnight and some flagship locations already out of walk-in stock by mid-morning. One customer told The US Sun that he entered the line at the Fifth Avenue store at 2 p.m. Thursday, 18 hours before its 8 a.m. opening, and was around 25th in line.

Another person at the location estimated the crowd at about 130 and said staff had warned shoppers that only a small number of units were available. The Taiwan Times account describes launch crowds as a mix of preorder customers collecting devices, walk-in shoppers seeking limited stock and resellers.

That adds a different emphasis to the New York Post’s account, which focuses on long queues and the difficulty of securing a walk-in unit. Both accounts describe tight store availability, but the New York Post’s examples concern New York, while the Taiwan Times supplies a specific inventory count and a Los Angeles example.

The launch price was about US$2,000, with the Taiwan Times describing the starting price as nearly that amount. CNA also reported that Apple had begun worldwide sales on the same Friday. The sources portray demand through sellouts, queues and constrained purchase options; they do not provide a total sales figure or a company estimate of how many devices customers bought.

The Taiwan Times reported that Apple’s next quarterly earnings results were due on November 2, but that reporting period had ended at the end of the previous month and would not include Duo sales. The results were expected to reflect early sales of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which debuted on September 18.

The launch-day accounts therefore document immediate supply and ordering conditions, not the Duo’s contribution to quarterly revenue.