Scalpers offer iPhone Duo buyers 3,000 yuan extra outside Beijing store

Scalpers outside Apple's Beijing flagship store offered customers an extra 3,000 yuan ($448) to buy their newly purchased iPhone Duo foldable phones on Friday's global launch day, citing tight supply and expected resale profits for about two weeks. The iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable device, drew a line of about 100 pre-booked customers at the Sanlitun store, with one arriving at 6 a.m. China is the world's largest foldable phone market, though Apple has lagged rivals like Huawei, which launched its $3,000 Mate XT2 trifold on Sept. 7, and Xiaomi's 18 Fold. Walk-in purchases were barred on launch day in mainland China, with online orders limited to two phones per person and delivery times stretching to January 2027. Apple Intelligence's Chinese version, pending beta testing this month, drew little excitement, as customers expected it to be less impressive than overseas versions.