(Yicai) Sept. 11 -- Sellers on second-hand platforms in China are adding between CNY1,000 and CNY5,000 (USD149 to USD745) to the retail price of the iPhone Duo more than a month before Apple’s first foldable smartphone goes on sale, Yicai found.

The iPhone Duo will become available on Oct. 23. In China, the handset is priced at CNY15,999 (USD2,385) for 256 gigabytes, CNY17,999 for 512 GB, CNY21,499 for 1 terabyte, and CNY26,499 for 2 TB. The official Apple stores on e-commerce sites JD.Com and Taobao have started taking pre-orders, with over 560,000 already placed through JD.Com.

California-based Apple unveiled the much-anticipated phone on Sept. 9. The product page describes the device as having a 7.6-inch foldable display and a 5.4-inch external display. Apple also says that in the Chinese mainland the phone will only use eSIM and buyers may need to visit a mobile carrier store for identity verification and activation.

Apple will release the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in China at 8 p.m. tomorrow, priced at CNY9,000 to CNY20,499 and CNY10,999 to CNY21,499, respectively. Its official store on JD.Com has already received more than 1.2 million orders for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup.

With the upcoming release of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo, Apple has removed the iPhone 17 Pro from its website and raised prices of older iPhone models. For example, the iPhone 17 Pro is now priced from CNY8,099 or CNY7,599 after national consumer goods subsidies are included.

The iPhone 17 price has increased by CNY800 (USD120), with the 256-GB version rising to as much as CNY6,799 from CNY5,999 and the 512-GB version to as high as CNY8,799 from CNY7,999. The price hike for the Chinese mainland lineup of the iPhone Air range from CNY800 to CNY2,300.

The iPhone 17’s official repricing quickly filtered through to third-party e-commerce platforms, with the 256-GB version increasing by CNY150 to CNY362 depending on color, and that of the iPhone Air 256-GB by about CNY320.

Prices of the iPhone 17 Pro series also rose yesterday, with the Pro Max up by as much as CNY895. The Pro 256 GB is about CNY150 to CNY180 more expensive now. The 1-TB and 2-TB versions cost CNY475 and CNY895 more.

Editor: Futura Costaglione