The iPhone Duo has drawn more pre-orders than Apple planned for in several major markets, according to DigiTimes, which cited sources. The claim comes with no figures, either for the orders or for Apple's forecast.
The more specific story is about chips. Display chip suppliers are hoping the Duo's reception will lift investment in foldable devices. The part at issue is OLED TDDI, short for touch and display driver integration, which combines the electronics that sense touch and the ones that control the display. According to the sources, cost is still a barrier to putting OLED TDDI in conventional flagship phones this year. Foldables are different: the technology is considered a technical requirement for them, so chipmakers get a route to higher shipments even if adoption elsewhere stays limited.
DigiTimes also pointed to a touchscreen MacBook as a possible catalyst for notebook display investment. Touch support opens the door to pricier parts, such as integrated touch and display drivers and timing controllers, which coordinate how a display operates. The sources expect rival manufacturers could adopt similar display technology in response to Apple's new products, which would bring business to companies outside Apple's supply chain.
That matters because the industry is facing subdued consumer demand in the second half of 2026. DigiTimes suggested Duo demand could cushion softer iPhone 18 Pro sales.
Treat the headline claim with some care. Apple does not publish pre-order counts, so "more than expected" cannot be checked, and the people hoping for a foldable boom are the chipmakers who would sell into it. Still, the underlying logic holds without the demand story: a product category that makes a costly component mandatory guarantees volume for whoever supplies it. The open question is whether OLED TDDI gets cheap enough to reach standard flagships, which would turn a niche order book into a broad one.