Apple bets iPhone Duo can remake foldable market as sales begin

Oct 23 (Reuters) - For nearly two decades Apple has made only small changes to the iPhone, its money machine. That changes on Friday when Apple starts selling its first folding phone, iPhone Duo, betting that the device can do for ‌the small foldables market what the iPhone did for smartphones.

Its reception could prove an early test for new Apple CEO John Ternus, ‌the former hardware chief who unveiled iPhone Duo barely a week after taking charge in September.

It could also have large implications for a niche category in which rivals such as Samsung ​Electronics and Huawei Technologies have sold premium offerings for years.

Within minutes of pre-orders opening last Friday, Apple's estimated delivery dates for the Duo had slipped to late January as demand outpaced supply. The company called the response from customers "nothing short of extraordinary."

Early reviews have praised the $1,999 Duo's premium design as well as its sturdy and barely visible hinge, a major feat for the phones whose prominent creased screen has long been a major drawback and potential deterrent to ‌buyers.

But reviewers have also said that camera compromises including ⁠the absence of a telephoto lens and third-party apps that still need to be reworked for the new display size could disappoint some buyers. They have noted that iPhone Duo in its smaller, folded state is less handy for ⁠the litany of quick tasks that most users carry out each day on standard iPhones, leading several prominent reviewers to recommend against the Duo for many Apple customers.

"It's been a lot of fun trying the Duo out for a week, but it feels like I've gotten to use an extraordinarily polished prototype — not a finished product that ​I'd ​want to buy and carry," longtime Apple commentator John Gruber, the author of the ​blog Daring Fireball, wrote in a review.

Tech commentator Marques Brownlee, ‌popularly known as MKBHD, said in a YouTube review that "if you're just a regular person who doesn't do much more than texting, social media and browsing here and there, then it is probably a no. But if the $2,000 doesn't mean much to you, and you like the idea, after the learning curve and getting used to not having facial identification, it is a really fun phone."

The limited supplies could disappoint Apple fans lining up in front of stores to buy the Duo. Apple told Reuters that walk-in availability would vary by country, with limited stocks in the US, Australia, ‌Canada, Mexico and much of Britain and Europe. In China, France, Hong Kong, India ​and Japan, units would be available only for customers who had ordered online.