The popularity of pre-orders for the iPhone Duo quickly ignited the market's enthusiasm for investment in Apple's folding screen supply chain. The capital began to explore definitive opportunities in depth along the industry chain, and Tiangong International (00826) entered its core vision.
At 8 p.m. on October 16, pre-orders for the iPhone Duo began simultaneously on Apple's official website, JD, and Tmall, and the first batch of supplies quickly sold out. According to the data, the number of reservations on the JD single platform exceeded 3 million; the Tmall Apple Store flagship store was continuously replenished 6 times in a very short period of time, and it was still difficult to stop the empty situation; the delivery cycle on Apple's official website was even scheduled to end of January 2027. Obviously, the market demand for Apple's folding screens has significantly exceeded the expectations of previous institutions.
Catalyzed by the release of major new products, the iPhone Duo's internal value is an incremental process where the internal value of the iPhone Duo has increased significantly, and it has become the “definitive track” with the highest level of financial consensus, including titanium alloy materials.
According to Apple's official disclosure, the iPhone Duo has three “titanium” parts. One is the fuselage frame/middle frame, which is made of grade 5 titanium and is the main stress frame of the whole machine; the second is the hinge case, which is the first large structural part of the Apple phone to be manufactured using a 3D printing process; the third is a titanium support plate at the bottom of the inner screen to disperse bending stress. In addition to this, supply chain dismantling added that some of the shaft connecting arms, small titanium alloy shaft parts (MIM process), and shaft gears inside the hinge also involved titanium materials.
Compared with the pure titanium middle frame scheme of the previous iPhone 15/16 Pro, the duo's titanium incremental structure is more clear. According to supply chain estimates, the iPhone Duo added two incremental structures of a hinged case and a titanium plate to support the inner screen on the basis of the straight plate Pro titanium frame. The amount of titanium used in a stand-alone machine is about 2 to 3 times that of previous straight plate titanium iPhones, and the amount of stand-alone consumables has jumped several times.
Based on this, the rise in sales is expected to turn the increase in stand-alone machines into a total explosion. Counterpoint estimates that Apple's folding screen shipment limit will be about 6 million units in 2026, accounting for about 25% of the global folding screen market, ranking second in the world. By 2027, the iPhone Duo's sales volume is expected to double, and the market share is expected to exceed 40%, that is, the sales volume is expected to reach 12.4-13.2 million units in 2027.
However, the direct drive of Apple's single brand is not the whole story; the expansion of demand for titanium in the folding screen wave triggered by the iPhone Duo is the main line of imagination. As an absolute trend vane for the industry, Apple's demonstration effect will force the Android camp to speed up the titanium alloying process.
This chain reaction of “leading the head and emulation of the entire industry” is bound to significantly raise the overall demand curve for titanium alloys in the consumer electronics sector, and the growth ceiling for upstream titanium, titanium powder, and finishing processes will open up. According to CICC's estimates, the market space for Apple's 3D printing materials and processing alone will reach 3.2 billion yuan by 2027, and is expected to rise to 7.5 billion yuan by 2030.
Under this industry trend, Tiangong International's strategic card position advantage is prominent. As Apple's core supplier of titanium alloy materials, the company has closed the entire industrial chain from titanium alloy base material to 3D printing powder through Tiangong Co., Ltd., and has a full-process production capacity from titanium sponge to titanium ingots, wires, and powders.
More imaginative is the 3D printing titanium powder process — its value and barriers are significantly higher than traditional wire. Tiangong Titanium Crystal has planned a production capacity of 3,000 tons/year for second-generation plasma beam atomization milling. Construction of the first phase of the 1,000 ton project has begun. In the future, it is expected to meet the incremental demand for titanium powder brought by the brand's 3D printing volume, thus driving the company's titanium alloy business to achieve leapfrog growth in the consumer electronics sector.
This industry trend is also clearly confirmed in the institutional model. UBS predicts that by 2028, Tiangong International's titanium alloy business sales and gross profit contributions are expected to rise to 23% and 32%, compared to 13.3% and 17.6% respectively in 2025. The growth elasticity is clearly visible.
However, the strong growth expectations of the titanium alloy business are only one facet of Tiangong International's steady fundamentals. As the company accelerates towards a high-end materials platform, Tiangong International has shown continuous growth momentum.
In the first half of 2026, thanks to the steady performance of high-speed steel and cutting tools as growth engines and mold steel, Tiangong International's revenue increased 5.5% to 2,471 billion yuan, and net profit increased 11.2% to 226 million yuan.
This interim report not only verifies the company's operational resilience, but also reveals a clear path for subsequent growth: with the continuous implementation of good price performance and product structure upgrades, high-speed steel is expected to continue to grow; cutting tools will also contribute new volume under the trend of domestic substitution, and the layout in the PCB precision tool field will also effectively support the long-term growth of the business; and the mold steel business is also expected to grow faster under favorable impetus.
On October 15, Tiangong International's European subsidiary signed a procurement agreement with an existing terminal customer to supply 5,000 tons of mold steel by the end of May 2027, with an order value of about 80 million yuan. UBS pointed out that the carbon emissions of the Tiangong International short process electric arc furnace process are low, and compliance advantages will be further expanded under the tightening of EU carbon rules, which will facilitate the continued expansion of the company's series of products in Europe.
High quality fundamentals have also been unanimously recognized by the agency. Based on Tiangong International's product structure optimization and profit improvement logic, First Shanghai Securities maintained its “buy” rating and target price of HK$3.89, with room for an increase of more than 50% compared to the current price.
UBS, on the other hand, made a more aggressive judgment. It expects Tiangong International's 2026/2027 net profit growth rates to reach 49% and 35% respectively. It maintains Tiangong International's “buy” rating and gives a target price of HK$5.0, implying the potential to nearly double.
However, the management's real money repurchase action provided the strongest endorsement for the above bullish logic. According to the Zhitong Finance App, Tiangong International has repurchased a total of 3 million shares three times on October 13, 14, and 16, releasing a clear signal of the bottom of the valuation. Under the dual resonance of institutional consensus and management confidence, Tiangong International's long-term layout window is becoming more and more clear.