Economy
Editor’s Choice: Apple’s not-so-surprising, hard-to-afford foldable phone
Akito Tanaka shares his weekly reflections and recommendations New Apple CEO John Ternus holds the new foldable iPhone Duo during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9. © Reuters Hello from Tokyo. Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo on Wednesday, its first-ever foldable iPhone. While the company created the vast smartphone market with the launch of the original iPhone 19 years ago, it's been a latecomer to foldable phones. Samsung's Galaxy series and Google's Pixel lineup have already offered foldable smartphones globally for some time, and China's Huawei even showed off a tri-fold model just days before Apple's event. For Apple's loyal fans worldwide, the arrival of the iPhone Duo has been long awaited. However, based on the promotional video, the iPhone Duo looks like a somewhat underwhelming and not-so-surprising device, with few truly new features to set it apart from rival models. The price tag was also predictably steep. With a starting price of $1,999, it'll be the most expensive model in the iPhone lineup. With the dollar continuing to trade at high levels, the iPhone Duo will be a hard-to-afford foldable phone for many consumers across Asia, including myself.
