Apple enters China’s competitive foldable smartphone segment with the iPhone Duo, but cautious reactions highlight the pressing challenge of pricing in a market already saturated with local innovations.
Apple’s first foldable iPhone has entered the Chinese market to a cautious reaction, with early comments focusing less on the engineering and more on the price. The iPhone Duo was unveiled at Apple’s event in Cupertino on Wednesday and is priced in China at 15,999 yuan, or about $2,230. On Chinese social media, some users said they would wait for a second-generation model rather than pay the launch price now.
That response matters because China is not a fresh or undeveloped foldable-phone market. Apple’s devices remain popular there, but Greater China accounts for about 17% of the company’s revenue and is also one of the most fiercely contested premium handset markets in the world. Domestic makers including Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo and Vivo already sell book-style and flip-style foldables, while Huawei has also moved into tri-fold designs. In that context, Apple is arriving late to a category that local rivals have spent years normalising.
The timing has sharpened the pressure. Xiaomi introduced the 18 Fold on Monday, while Huawei launched the Mate XT 2 around the same period, underscoring how crowded the segment has become. Reports from the launch cycle suggest the latest Chinese devices span both conventional book-style layouts and more ambitious tri-fold formats, pushing the market forward even before Apple’s entry. That leaves Apple competing not only on brand strength, but on whether its first foldable can justify a premium over products already familiar to Chinese buyers.
Apple’s own presentation positioned the iPhone Duo as a high-end device with a 7.6-inch inner display, a 5.4-inch outer screen, a titanium frame and the A20 Pro chip. It uses Touch ID rather than Face ID and does not support MagSafe, but it does work with the Apple Pencil. The company’s shares rose after the launch, yet the first public reaction in China suggests that pricing, rather than novelty, may decide how quickly the foldable makes headway.
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