Speculators in China suffered significant financial losses after the resale price of the iPhone Duo, Apple''''''''s first foldable phone, collapsed about a week after it was released to the market, after they had bet on making quick profits from limited supply and high demand.
According to a report by GizmoChina, traders rushed to buy large quantities of the phone at high prices, expecting its value to increase in the secondary market, similar to previous releases, but declining consumer interest and improved supplies pushed prices down quickly.
The losses worsened with the emergence of problems related to the phone''''''''s hinge and the incompleteness of some aspects of the software experience, which weakened buyer demand and turned most resale deals into losing transactions.
One trader at the Yigao Digital City in Hangzhou, China, said that almost all speculators are currently incurring losses, while industry estimates indicate that some traders have lost tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan due to accumulated inventory, given that the dollar is worth about 6.67 yuan.
The price collapse is also linked to the rapid spread of information and phone reviews as soon as they are released via social media platforms, which has reduced opportunities to exploit supply shortages and information gaps to achieve exceptional gains.
Improved supply at a faster pace than traders had anticipated also helped shorten the price increase period, while the phone''''''''s high base price limited the potential buyer base, causing secondary market demand to decline after the initial wave of interest ended.
These developments reflect the increased risk of speculation on electronic devices, after markets became more transparent and faster in the exchange of information, and preserving capital without losses became an exceptional outcome for traders who bet on the continued scarcity of the phone