'Can you afford this on a salary?' Wall Street calls foldable iPhone price 'reasonable'

Apple's share price surged more than 3 percent after the company unveiled its foldable iPhone, with analysts at home and abroad praising the pricing strategy as reasonable. Some forecasts put first-year sales from the device at up to 37 trillion won ($27.6 billion).

According to Investing.com, Apple closed at $326.57 on Thursday, up 3.56 percent from the previous day — a notable gain given that the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.7 percent the same day. Analysts attributed the rally to positive reception of the foldable iPhone Duo, unveiled Wednesday (local time), along with expectations of strong replacement demand and a higher average selling price.

Apple introduced the iPhone Duo at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on Wednesday (local time).

The iPhone Duo is priced at $1,999 for the 256-gigabyte model. In South Korea, it will retail for 3.29 million won.

Apple also unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro series, the AirPods 5 wireless earbuds, the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199, while the Pro Max starts at $1,299.

Analysts globally praised Apple's pricing as a sound strategic choice. JPMorgan said the pricing represented "a balanced decision that absorbs memory chip costs while maintaining positive sales volume."

Hwang Ji-hyun, an analyst at NH Investment, said Apple had "minimized demand pressure by limiting price increases on lower-storage models of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, even as key specs such as the camera and processor were upgraded," adding that "the positive takeaway is the balanced pricing strategy of concentrating price increases on higher-storage models instead."

The iPhone Duo's price came in slightly below market expectations. Wall Street had forecast the foldable iPhone would be priced between $2,000 and $2,500, and there had been concern that rising memory chip costs could push the retail price above those estimates.

Goldman Sachs said the iPhone Duo could open the mass market for foldable smartphones, citing its record-thin design and competitive pricing. The bank maintained its shipment forecast for the iPhone Duo this year at 14 million to 35 million units.

Bloomberg Intelligence raised its first-year sales forecast for the iPhone Duo to about 14 million units, projecting potential sales of $28 billion.

Markets are also watching the impact of the foldable iPhone launch on component suppliers. The foldable phone is expected to have a limited effect on the overall earnings of Apple and Samsung Electronics, while component makers stand to benefit more significantly.

Lee Jong-wook, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said that "given the revenue share of foldable smartphones, the near-term impact on the overall profits of Apple or Samsung Electronics will be limited," but added that Fine M-Tec and BH Co. could benefit as Samsung Display — the sole producer of the display — commands higher prices.

Goldman Sachs also said "upgrades to the hinge, heat dissipation and camera components in the new product are expected to benefit Chinese supply chains, including Foxconn."