China’s iPhone Flippers Face Losses Before Apple’s Foldable Even Launches

Apple’s first foldable iPhone, the Duo, launches in mainland China and the United States this Friday, following an October 16 preorder opening. Yet days before the first handsets even ship, Chinese speculators who lined up to flip launch-day units are already watching their expected profits evaporate.

Because the phones have not been delivered yet, this gray-market action is playing out entirely in advance resale agreements. Dealers lock in first-batch allocations during preorders and line up buyers ahead of time, with final payment and physical handoff scheduled for launch day on October 23, according to Dahe Daily.

For some middlemen, the math is already turning upside down. According to an October 19 MyDrivers report, Zhengzhou dealer Xu Shan put down a 25,000 yuan ($3,740) deposit to secure 50 iPhone Duo handsets at a total contract value of 999,950 yuan (about $149,700). Xu agreed to pay 4,000 yuan ($600) above retail per phone and planned to flip them at a 6,000 yuan ($900) markup – pocketing 2,000 yuan ($300) apiece for a target profit of 100,000 yuan ($14,970).

By October 17, however, that spread had vanished. Xu’s intended buyer slashed his bid to just 3,500 yuan ($525) above retail – 500 yuan ($75) per phone below Xu’s locked-in acquisition cost. Dumping all 50 handsets at that price would have handed Xu a 25,000 yuan ($3,740) loss, effectively wiping out his deposit (though not the nearly $150,000 gross order value).

Xu walked away from the bid to hunt for other buyers, leaving the loss on paper for now. Later that day, the original buyer sweetened his offer to 4,200 yuan ($630) over retail, but only for 10 phones. That trimmed Xu’s potential gross profit to a meager 200 yuan ($30) per handset while leaving the remaining 40 units without a bid.

Another would-be flipper, Chen Canlan, initially listed his launch-day preorder at a 6,000 yuan ($900) markup before settling for 3,000 yuan ($450) – a 50% haircut on his asking premium, even if the phone itself still traded well above retail.

The new phone pairs a 5.4-inch outer display with a 7.6-inch folding inner screen, the 256GB iPhone Duo carries an official starting price of 15,999 yuan ($2,395) in mainland China and $1,999 in the United States.