Apple has officially broken away from its traditional bar-style smartphone design, which it has maintained since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, by introducing its first foldable device. Unveiled on September 9 (local time), the newly announced "iPhone Duo" marks a major milestone for the tech giant as it enters a fierce three-way market race against Samsung Electronics and China's Huawei. While anticipation among loyal Apple enthusiasts was exceptionally high, Wall Street's response was notably subdued. 

The launch event carried immense significance for multiple reasons. Beyond marking Apple's monumental shift toward foldable technology, it also served as the high-profile debut for John Ternus, Apple’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer following Tim Cook. Ternus presented the new device at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, introducing a form factor designed to resemble the size of a passport when folded—closely mirroring the dimensions and format of competing foldable devices already gaining traction in the market. 

When closed, the iPhone Duo features a compact 5.4-inch outer display, but unfolding it expands the workspace into a massive 7.6-inch inner screen. This expansive canvas allows users to run different applications simultaneously on dual screens via enhanced multitasking capabilities. Furthermore, the device introduces support for Apple Pencil handwriting—a feature previously limited to the iPad lineup. 

Despite its innovative features, the iPhone Duo comes with a hefty price tag driven by industry-wide supply chain pressures and rising component costs, often referred to as "chipflation". The base model with 256GB of storage starts at $1,999 (approximately 3.29 million KRW), while higher-tier configurations exceed 4 million KRW. Pre-orders are scheduled to begin on October 16, with official in-store availability starting on October 23. Notably, South Korea has been included among the primary launch wave of over 70 countries. 

Despite the historic nature of the announcement, the stock market reaction remained lukewarm. On Wall Street, Apple’s stock opened on a weak note and fluctuated before closing down 0.28% at $315.34. Although the stock dipped by as much as 1.9% during the live presentation, it managed to recover a significant portion of its losses later in the session, showing slight gains in extended after-hours trading.

Market analysts suggest that while the debut of a new CEO, high consumer expectations, and a solid product design provided plenty of reasons for optimism, the announcement ultimately failed to generate a fresh upward momentum. Because the foldable device had been widely anticipated for months, the news had largely been priced into the market beforehand.

Bank of America analyst Vamsi Mohan noted that Apple often experiences a short-term "sell the news" dip following major product unveilings, though it historically tends to recover within one to two months. Additionally, rising memory chip costs continue to exert margin pressure and act as a constraint on stock growth. Meanwhile, memory semiconductor stocks saw strong rallies on the same day, with SK Hynix ADR jumping over 7% and Micron rising by over 2%.

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