Strong iPhone Duo pre-orders have reportedly spurred Apple to increase its order by milions more units from its suppliers, according to a DigiTimes report.
The publication’s supply chain sources tell it that Foxconn and component manufacturers had been instructed to increase production by roughly 44%, and increase from 9.7 million to 14 million devices. The revised production numbers comes in the wake of strong pre-order numbers for Apple’s initial foldable iPhone. The increased numbers is for a full 12-month period, not just the rest of 2026.
Apple opened pre-orders for the iPhone Duo on October 16, and within minutes, US shipping estimates for all configurations had slipped to January 25, 2027. The estimates literally slid by a month in the time it took me to write an article about the delays.
Apple last week described demand as “nothing short of extraordinary.” Within 30 minutes of pre-orders opening on October 16, U.S. shipping estimates had reached January 25 across all configurations.
DigiTimes says the final production numbers will depend on whether Apple has solved earlier manufacturing issues that reportedly affected assembly, displays, and hinges during initial manufacturing of the Duo.
DigiTimes expects global foldable smartphone shipments will grow 25.7% in 2026 and 59.1% in 2027, compared with 7.4% growth in 2025, with the iPhone expected to contribute greatly to that growth.
