iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

[MacRumors]

Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia.

Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production.

Apple supplier Foxconn has reportedly dismantled all of its production lines for the ‌iPhone Air‌, while Luxshare, another supplier, stopped production at the end of October.

As a result of the device's poor reception among consumers, rival smartphone manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and others have either canned or adjusted their development plans for Air-style models, and reallocated eSIM solutions intended for the devices to other production lines.

Xiaomi reportedly planned a "true Air model" to rival Apple's offering, while Vivo targeted thinness within its mid-range S series. Both companies are now said to have halted related projects but have yet to officially comment.

Apple relied on the iPhone Air's new look to generate excitement – it's the first major redesign of the iPhone since the iPhone X introduced Face ID and an all-display front in 2017. However, achieving a super-thin 5.6 mm profile required trade-offs. The iPhone Air uses a smaller battery and a single rear camera, yet still carries a premium price.

Starting at $999, it seems too expensive for what many buyers view as style over substance. It sits only $100 below the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro, which offers a triple-lens camera system and far better battery life.

The tepid consumer response is also said to have forced Apple back to the drawing board: a report from The Information claims Apple has delayed the second-generation iPhone Air while it redesigns the device to potentially fit in a second camera and improve battery life.

Apparently it's been a similar story for Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge, the Korean company's equivalent ultra-thin offering. Samsung has reportedly cancelled the Galaxy S26 Edge and halted the production of the Galaxy S25 Edge, owing to poor sales.

(Via DigiTimes.)

Article Link: iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

 

[SnowPenguin]

The industry needs to prioritize function over form already. Phones are already thin enough.

 

[Tripps9000]

No surprise there the iPhone air was a good phone but for me a single mono speaker was my reason not to get one I have dual stereo speakers on my iPad and phone 16 and just having one speaker again is kinda annoying!

 

[geta]

I checked out the Air few days ago in the store, and while it's thin it's still too big and overpriced for what you get.

Instead, they should bring back smaller phones with 5.4-5.8” screens that are easier to use and carry around.

 

[ikir]

No surprise there the iPhone air was a good phone but for me a single mono speaker was my reason not to get one I have dual stereo speakers on my iPad and phone 16 and just having one speaker again is kinda annoying!

I have an iPhone Air and the speaker thing is minimal. Single camera can be an obstacle for work and a limit for personal photos. All around iPhone Air is pretty impressive, I'm enjoying it a lot.

 

[TumbleDryer]

Price is the problem (and giant camera bump). The slim profile part is sexy as hell but its all let down by the huge bump and daft price. It's not exactly innovative either just cramming all the gubbins in the massive camera bump then trying to pass the phone off as 'super slim', it's not.

I was going to get one then I saw it and thought against it. Colour choices are also a big let down. Manky white. A blue so feint it mostly looks like the Manky White one and the black looks like a nightmare to keep looking good (and it doesn't look great to start with).

I personally don't care about a camera so if they removed it and had the slim edge all round I'd buy it as it would be super sexy phone. It would however sell even less as most people are obsessed with bigger and bigger cameras even though the majority only ever add their photos on instagram thereby not using 1/10th of the cameras capabilities but moan that its only 12mp when they're barely using 1mp when they upload to instagram. I just find it daft.

 

[Seanm87]

They really should have priced this below the base 17. It’s a hard sell when that model has more for less cost.

 

[DickieSmith]

I'm certain the Air was a by-product of their R&D for foldable phones rather than a confident & major investment in pushing a different form factor.

They've been investing in slimming down their frames and improved hardware layouts so that they can have a foldable that isn't horribly thick to hold when folded. They managed to squeeze most core components into a tiny strip allowing for a larger battery despite its thin shape. So they decided to see if there's opportunity to monetise those developments even though they aren't quite ready to release a foldable.

And to help with the experiment customers had a choice:
• iPhone 17: Prioritise price (decent, but unexceptional, balance of form & function at a reduced cost)
• iPhone Air: Prioritise form factor (higher cost than base phone & reduced feature set for better form factor)
• iPhone Pro: Prioritise function (higher cost, better thermals, camera, etc... but bulkier & heavier form)

There was a time Apple would have just gone with the first two options and tell anyone who was upset by bad thermals / performance / battery etc... just to deal with it.

 

[Nyx1]

1k USD if using new battery, 2 camera rear, 2 speaker not binning the chip

 

[loby]

Price is the issue. Too expensive for what is offered. Apple believed that people would pay for thinnest only and mediocre specs, but if the report is true, then is obvious why lower sales.

I would get one if the price was lower. Better to get the Pro for a little more.

 

[woerden]

I dare say a smaller form factor would have been less of a disaster than this. refresh the Mini.

 

[Ctrlos]

Apple kind of backed themselves into a corner with the Air. For one thing its the sort of device you can't really understand what its like to own until you actually insert it into your everyday life. Yes, its nice to pick up in the Apple Store but the feeling of being able to use a large-screen phone without the aesthetics and weight of a can of soup is truly groundbreaking. That lack of mass and weight might seem like a party trick but it makes so much difference in daily use.

Unfortunately for Apple every reason to buy the Air is a reason not to buy the Pro Max and guess where the marketing budget goes.

 

[Ctrlos]

Price is the issue. Too expensive for what is offered. Apple believed that people would pay for thinnest only and mediocre specs, but if the report is true, then is obvious why lower sales.

I would get one if the price was lower. Better to get the Pro for a little more.

If it were $100 cheaper it would make all the difference. This said the only real differences between the Air and the Pro are the presence of a 0.5x camera and the 4x. There is very little in the performance or photo quality.

 

[Donkey Man]

Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia.

Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production.

Apple supplier Foxconn has reportedly dismantled all of its production lines for the ‌iPhone Air‌, while Luxshare, another supplier, stopped production at the end of October.

As a result of the device's poor reception among consumers, rival smartphone manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and others have either canned or adjusted their development plans for Air-style models, and reallocated eSIM solutions intended for the devices to other production lines.

Xiaomi reportedly planned a "true Air model" to rival Apple's offering, while Vivo targeted thinness within its mid-range S series. Both companies are now said to have halted related projects but have yet to officially comment.

Apple relied on the iPhone Air's new look to generate excitement – it's the first major redesign of the iPhone since the iPhone X introduced Face ID and an all-display front in 2017. However, achieving a super-thin 5.6 mm profile required trade-offs. The iPhone Air uses a smaller battery and a single rear camera, yet still carries a premium price.

Starting at $999, it seems too expensive for what many buyers view as style over substance. It sits only $100 below the $1,099 iPhone 17 Pro, which offers a triple-lens camera system and far better battery life.

The tepid consumer response is also said to have forced Apple back to the drawing board: a report from The Information claims Apple has delayed the second-generation iPhone Air while it redesigns the device to potentially fit in a second camera and improve battery life.

Apparently it's been a similar story for Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge, the Korean company's equivalent ultra-thin offering. Samsung has reportedly cancelled the Galaxy S26 Edge and halted the production of the Galaxy S25 Edge, owing to poor sales.

(Via DigiTimes.)

Article Link: iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Absolutely the best iPhone I’ve ever had; so I couldn’t care less about any alleged “flopping” as reported above.

 

[Obry]

Who would’ve though nobody wants to pay nearly $1000 for phone with crap battery, crap speaker, crap camera but “it’s so thin” - no one cares

 

[Jackbequickly]

Just because technology allows them to make it thin does not necessarily make a better phone. Apple has always been obsessed with making our hardware thin. We have sacrificed much for this!

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃

 

[brgjoe]

Would love to see the actual sales numbers of this and the Mini models. Wonder which one actually was more popular.

Anyway, I would have considered the Air if it had 1) a Silicon Carbide battery, 2) Another camera (telephoto for me) and another speaker. Even with that, I don't know how many people were thinking "Gosh, I wish my huge phone was slimmer!". Smaller, yes. Slimmer, probably not.

That being said, I do think it's an amazing bit of engineering that Apple did to make this so thin and (apparently) durable. But it has too many compromises for me to seriously consider it.

 

[JokoWidodo]

Just bring back iPhone 18 Plus

 

[Danie_Morrow]

And here we are again.

Let's summarize. According to many tests, the battery is better than the 16 Pro. Overall, it lasts for about 9 hours of heavy use, which means a full day's use with room to spare. So in this case, for such a thin device, it has top-notch battery life. The display is top-notch, and given the thinness of the body, the display stands out better than in conventional models. The display size is the sweet spot; 6.3 is too small, 6.9 is too big, in my humble opinion. The weight of 165 grams with such a large display is a great benefit. I'm not saying it's something extra important, but it feels good in your pocket. The titanium body is the most premium body of any current iPhone. Better connectivity than the 17 Pro thanks to its own modems. Main camera according to DXOMOARK si 166 from maximum 184. Video 178 out of 184. Okay, these are again top-notch values, of course, if you're shooting in ultra-wide, I understand that can be a problem. No need to comment on performance, it will be sufficient for years. My last test in Geekbench was 3785 for single-core and 9750 for multi-core. These are just numbers, but even so, it's top-notch performance for such a thin device. I don't want to comment much on the sound, I wasn't even aware that sound was such a big issue until the Air came out. It would never have occurred to me that people who have $1,000 phones can't afford headphones and speakers. I can't help you there. In all the years I've been using iPhones, I've never consumed content through speakers, so I can't say how bad or good the Air is.
So here's a summary of the phone's supposedly mediocre features, as claimed by the experts here.

 

[DMG35]

I'm certain the Air was a by-product of their R&D for foldable phones rather than a confident & major investment in pushing a different form factor.

They've been investing in slimming down their frames and improved hardware layouts so that they can have a foldable that isn't horribly thick to hold when folded. They managed to squeeze most core components into a tiny strip allowing for a larger battery despite its thin shape. So they decided to see if there's opportunity to monetise those developments even though they aren't quite ready to release a foldable.

And to help with the experiment customers had a choice:
• iPhone 17: Prioritise price (decent, but unexceptional, balance of form & function at a reduced cost)
• iPhone Air: Prioritise form factor (higher cost than base phone & reduced feature set for better form factor)
• iPhone Pro: Prioritise function (higher cost, better thermals, camera, etc... but bulkier & heavier form)

There was a time Apple would have just gone with the first two options and tell anyone who was upset by bad thermals / performance / battery etc... just to deal with it.

A major product release isn't a byproduct of R&D. They can do R&D internally without doing a major phone release. The Air was an attempt to find a new market of consumer. I personally think its a great phone, but I can see why it failed and why some people don't like it.

 

[MGrayson3]

Function: It's not a brick. I love it. Wish it had a wide/macro camera. Wouldn't mind another speaker. Will never go back to a heavier phone if I don't have to.

 

[Joker1977]

Garbage for a gigantic price, only thing even bigger than the price is the camera bump that makes it look like it was designed by 5 year old!

 

[Kidseeghost]

Foldable phones will suffer the same fate. Too expensive and with too few use cases for the masses and they won't adopt this weird fragile form factor with less features than the Pro. Besides, people are keeping their phones longer and want to reduce screen time, so double the screen real estate and a second screen outside won't be a trend anytime soon.

With the Air, it's the price. If the Air were to replace the regular one at the regular price, it would sell. But Apple wanted the popcorn method small $3, medium $6.50, large $7 (799, 999, 1099). The $6.50/$999 price makes the large/Pro version seem like a good deal, even though you didn’t want the large/Pro version, you wanted the small one. The Air's success was hampered by the company's bean counters and marketing team. They positioned the phone in a way that was doomed to fail. The next step to streamline the product line up will be to drop the e name, since in a year or two it will be the almost the same as the regular model. Make the regular model the new e and position the iPhone Air at the regular price and two cameras, just like with the iPad. iPhone, iPhone Air, iPhone Pro and don't keep the price too close to the Pro price.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

I want to believe this is true just because I despise thin phones

Give me a thick boy that can sit on a table without wobbling from its massive camera bump and has a bigger battery inside the bulkier frame

 

[Kidseeghost]

The industry needs to prioritize function over form already. Phones are already thin enough.

Phones are bricks. They are not too thin they are getting thicker every year. At 799 this would have sold well. People want thin/lighter phones but not at the expense of higher price but less features.