Apple made a 'major mistake' mismanaging the iPhone Duo launch

Apple fans are beginning to learn the hard way that making foldable phones isn't easy. Unfortunately for them, Apple doesn't seem fully ready for the foldable market either.

The company overpromised its iPhone Duo pre-order shipment dates and grossly underdelivered, pushing back pre-orders in some markets to late January 2027.

The iPhone Duo was initially planned to go on sale in the USA and China before expanding to more markets. Surprisingly, the company decided at the last minute that it should launch the iPhone Duo in more than seventy regions simultaneously, up from the initial two.

This led to a massive bottleneck in Apple's supply chain, and less than 30 minutes after the iPhone Duo pre-order window opened, Apple's estimated shipping date for the foldable iPhone slipped from October 23 to January 25.

Apple seemingly did this knowing all too well it didn't have enough iPhone Duos in stock to meet demand in dozens of regions. It's unlike Apple to mess up its own launch plans the way it did for the iPhone Duo, and it could have consequences for the brand.

Industry watcher Mark Gurman thinks Apple made a “major mistake” by changing its launch plans on the fly. And many people seemingly agree. The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable, meant to compete with Samsung's best, but how can it compete with anything when it's not being shipped?

Worse yet, this kind of strategy doesn't foster consumer trust. No matter how advanced foldable phones are, most people don't want to place an order today and wait four months for their product to be delivered. That's unacceptable in the smartphone world where sequels get released every 12 months or so.

Apple fans who were lucky enough to pre-order their iPhone Duos in the first 30 minutes of availability got theirs quicker. But for other iPhone Duo buyers in most markets, it feels like Apple pulled an unnecessary bait-and-switch.

It is possible that Apple itself was surprised by the high demand for foldable phones, and maybe it got too excited about a possible new golden goose at the last minute.

Regardless of Apple's reason, the iPhone Duo launch is a bit of a mess. Will it hurt Apple's brand image? Probably not, but it does show that Samsung is indeed several steps ahead of its rival in the foldable phone game.