Apple may well be increasing production of the iPhone Duo in response to strong demand, but a new report appears to be conflating two different figures to suggest a major jump. Apple has described demand for the iPhone Duo as "extraordinary" and has said it will do everything it can to fulfil orders quickly. Digitimes now reports that Apple has increased its order for the iPhone Duo by around 44%, rising from 9.7 million devices to 14 million over the device's first year.
The report's timeframe is odd, covering roughly September 2026 to September 2027 rather than running to the end of 2027. That may be because an iPhone Duo 2 is expected to launch then. Earlier reports said Apple would sell six million iPhone Duo units before the end of 2026, and a more recent, though questionable, report claimed orders had risen 30% to around 10 million for 2026. The new figures may include that 2026 increase, but if so, they would imply only 4 million units across the three quarters of 2027, compared with 10 million in the final quarter of 2026.
Predictions are difficult because reports about iPhone production often rely on component orders rather than finished devices. Apple can switch between suppliers, so such figures are often unreliable. The iPhone Duo is reportedly very hard to build in volume, with key difficulties involving the screen and the hinge. In September 2026, one source estimated that Foxconn's assembly yield was just above 60%, compared with about 93% for the iPhone Pro models.
The hinge, which allows the device to open to different degrees, reportedly contains around 100 components that must work together perfectly. Test runs were delayed and repeatedly ran into problems. Although these issues were resolved and the device was announced on schedule, mass production started later than usual. That likely left fewer units ready for launch, which may explain why the iPhone Duo sold out almost immediately.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing