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The story
Kaneshiro Yahagi of the comedy duo Ogiyahagi revealed on his late-night radio show on September 10 that he’s torn over whether to buy Apple’s newly announced foldable iPhone, the “iPhone Duo.” The cheapest 256GB model costs 364,800 yen, while the top-end 2TB model runs 574,800 yen — meaning a couple buying matching phones would spend over 1 million yen combined. On 5ch, a thread about the pricing sparked mixed reactions. Some worried about the security risk of carrying around such an expensive device, or pointed to the overall rise in smartphone prices, while others argued it’s still cheaper than a luxury watch, or noted that foldable phones simply haven’t caught on in Japan yet.
Fri, Sep 11, 2:00 PM
Kaneshiro Yahagi of the comedy duo Ogiyahagi appeared late on September 10 with his partner Hiroaki Ogi on the radio program “Thursday JUNK: Ogiyahagi no Megane-biiki” (TBS Radio), where he talked about being unable to decide whether to buy the “iPhone Duo,” announced by Apple earlier that same day (Japan time).
The model is Apple’s first-ever foldable iPhone. In Japan, it’s priced at 364,800 yen for the 256GB version and 574,800 yen for the 2TB version (all prices include tax).
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
The "just get the PRO MAX" guy strikes again: "Just get the PRO MAX"
Probably not many people even own one in Japan, so it's not really a target
Watches and jewelry are worth way more anyway
Only Sony and Kyocera are left making phones domestically
Then they tail you home, find out where you live, and hit you with a break-in or robbery
People will assume you've got money
You never know who's watching
Sounds like you just want to complain about poor people being jealous
The yen's so weak things have gotten ridiculous
Can't figure out when to finally upgrade
Heard you need a chain for it in places like New York
Heck, some people even put harnesses on their kids to prevent kidnapping
Haha, fair point
If you just want a foldable, go buy Docomo's N-05E
B: Xperia
C: Arrows / AQUOS
D: Pixel
E: Galaxy, Xiaomi, OPPO, Moto
That's about how I'd rank the image tiers
The top two brand-loyalist tiers, huh
Spending that much on something you just use to check social media and watch videos — that's basically a sickness at this point (´･ω･`)
A lot of people switch carriers every two years and get their phones for free to 100 yen anyway
Maybe buying one outright is just a status thing?
That's the same strategy that killed Nike, though
Music or videos maybe?
Background and Key Debate Points
The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable iPhone, joining a lineage of foldable devices that other manufacturers have already released overseas. In Japan, foldable smartphones remain a niche product, and this model’s price far exceeds that of even the top-tier existing iPhones. The thread split over whether to view this pricing as “reasonable for a luxury item” or as “brand dependency gone too far.” While some argued it’s still cheap compared to other luxury goods like high-end watches, plenty of others questioned the very idea of spending this much on a device mainly used for calls and social media. It’s worth noting, as a premise of the article, that Yahagi never said he lacked the funds to buy it — his hesitation was purely about the psychological hurdle of using it in public, not about affordability. The fact that foldable phones still have low adoption in Japan also shaped the thread’s overall tone.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Ogiyahagi’s Yahagi: iPhone Duo ‘Even the cheapest is 364,800 yen, the 2TB model is 574,800 yen — that’s 1 million yen for a couple’ / ‘Even if I bought it, I couldn’t use it in public’.”
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