Apple unsure when more foldable iPhones will be available after selling out

Apple's freshly appointed CEO, John Ternus, expressed excitement over the immediate success of the company's new foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, which sold out just over a week after its release. However, the costly smartphone has faced some challenges, as some buyers have reported cracked screens. Apple's new chief operating officer, Sabhi Kahn, stated that the company is uncertain when additional Duos will become available, as predicting supply and demand balance is currently difficult.

During a call with financial analysts, Kahn did not mention any issues with the device, but Apple had previously announced a plan to replace phones affected by a rare issue causing small cracks along the fold. Despite the recent sales success, Apple has reported that global iPhone sales have increased by 17% to $57 billion over the last year.

However, Mac computer sales also grew by 27% to $10.7 billion, another record for the company. Overall, Apple's sales rose by 15% for the year, reaching $479 billion. Nonetheless, iPad and wearable product sales, including headphones and watches, declined by 10% and 7%, respectively. Kahn attributed these challenges to ongoing supply constraints, particularly for microprocessors and advanced chips manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

The company anticipates that such supply issues will persist into the following year, impacting iPads and Macs. Additionally, Apple is facing unprecedented cost increases for memory storage due to the growing demand for data centers, driven by the popularity of AI chatbots and platforms. Cook earlier this year referred to the sudden rise in data center costs as a "thousand-year flood," leading to a 20% price increase on most of Apple's hardware products.