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Some iPhone Duo units, which was launched in the UAE on Friday, October 23 are fetching prices of up to Dh25,000 on the resale market, according to sellers, who say the limited number of pieces available on the market has added to the demand. Some sellers reportedly made profits of up to Dh30,000 in just one hour.
Uzbek national Mohammed Salimov flew into the UAE on Thursday to ensure that he got his hands on the highly-coveted device on the first day. “I ordered eight units of the 2TB model,” he said. “The market rate is Dh13,599. I have already been offered up to Dh25,000 for it from here in the UAE. That is more than Dh11,000 over its original price. But I am not selling it here. I will take it back to Uzbekistan where people are willing to pay more because the phone has not been released there.”
Meanwhile, reseller Mohammed, who runs a mobile shop in Deira, said he made a profit of over Dh30,000 within an hour of picking up his devices. “I bought four phones of 256GB,” he said. “I sold each for a margin of Dh8,000. So I made approximately Dh32,000 within an hour.”
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The iPhone Duo is Apple's first foldable iPhone, marking the company's entry into the foldable market. This phone does not have Face ID and instead relies on Touch ID, which is integrated into the side button. The Duo is the highest-priced variant of Apple. Here are the prices for the phones:
Dh8,499 for 256GB
Dh9,349 for 512GB
Dh11,049 for 1TB
Dh13,599 for 2TB
Very high demand
According to Mohammed Shareef, owner of Extel Mobiles, the high demand was expected and he thinks the prices will climb higher. “There is a very limited number of devices available on the market,” he said. “So, we knew the demand would be very high and people would be willing to pay a premium to get it. We were able to secure only three devices today. The next order is scheduled to be delivered in November. So, it has now become a coveted good. Because only a select few people have it.”
He said similar price increases were also seen when other brands launched their devices. “We had seen a similar pattern when Samsung launched its tri-fold phone last year,” he said. “People were ready to pay premiums of Dh8,000 per piece at that time too. Similarly, the Huawei tri-fold phone also was very popular when it launched. It also was launched in limited numbers and people were willing to pay double the price for it.”
Keeping devices on hold
One individual reseller who did not wish to be named said that he booked more than 30 pieces today and has already sold 14 of those. “I made a profit of approximately of Dh7,000 per device and people are ready to pay more,” he said. “So, for now, I am keeping ten devices on hold because I am 100 percent sure that the prices will increase.”
He added that people are curious about the foldable phone and are eager to get their hands on it. “However, those who place the order now, are getting a delivery date of January 2027,” he said. “This has further increased the demand for the prices. I am expecting prices to increase further over the next week or so due to the scarcity.”