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iPhone Air's Poor Sales Spook Rivals Into Ditching Ultra-Thin Phone Plans

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A Weibo leaker today suggested that Apple's iPhone Air 2 may be the only next-generation ultra-thin flagship smartphone from a major brand, after the original model's poor sales performance appears to have led competing manufacturers to abandon plans for their own follow-up products.

iPhone-Air.jpg

The leaker known as "Digital Chat Station" today posted on Weibo, claiming that the iPhone Air barely surpassed 700,000 unit activations even after multiple rounds of price reductions. The post also noted that an unspecified domestic Chinese ultra-thin device managed only 50,000 activations, and that the rival's planned follow-up now looks "highly precarious" and is in all likelihood going to be scrapped. The leaker concluded that the iPhone Air 2 may end up as the sole ultra-thin flagship of the next generation.

The iPhone Air has struggled commercially since its September 2025 launch. A KeyBanc Capital Markets survey found "virtually no demand" for the device, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that suppliers had been asked to cut capacity by more than 80% between launch and early 2026, and the iPhone Air is now widely believed to be entirely out of production.

The device's poor reception has reverberated across the industry. 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 said to have halted related projects. Samsung similarly cancelled the Galaxy S26 Edge after the Galaxy S25 Edge sold poorly.

Despite all of this, a separate leaker claimed last month that Apple will push ahead with at least two generations of the device regardless of sales performance. Reports are now aligned around a spring 2027 launch, with the delay attributed both to poor sales of the original and to Apple's new split launch strategy, which moves the standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18e, and iPhone Air 2 to a spring window while reserving fall 2026 for the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone. Reports from Nikkei Asia, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, and The Information all point to an early 2027 release.

Apple is said to be significantly revising the iPhone Air 2 to address the main criticisms of the original. The Information reported that Apple is considering adding a second rear camera, likely an Ultra Wide lens to complement the existing 48-megapixel Fusion camera, along with lower pricing. Other rumored changes include reduced weight, vapor chamber cooling, and increased battery capacity. Apple is believed to have requested an ultra-thin Face ID module from suppliers to free up internal space for the additional camera. According to The Elec, Apple also plans to bring a thinner, brighter Samsung OLED technology called CoE (Color Filter on Encapsulation) to the iPhone Air 2, after debuting it first on the foldable iPhone.

Article Link: iPhone Air's Poor Sales Spook Rivals Into Ditching Ultra-Thin Phone Plans
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/01/iphone-air-sales-spook-rivals-into-ditching-plans/
It would be a shame if this form factor is discontinued. It’s the only phone which felt like a breath of fresh air to me and the phone Jobs would have loved. Holding it still feels like a delight which I can’t say for any other phone on the market. Sure, it has compromises but at the right price it has a place in the lineup.

I challenge anyone to hold a foldable or a Pro iPhone and then pick this up and not be amazed by how easy it is to hold.
 
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I didn't even know this existed. I don't seek out info on the latest phones, unless I'm in the market, so did they advertise this? I see like the "filmed on iphone" ones all the time. A smaller phone is kind of a nice change up.
 
jarman92 said:
I'm still convinced that the Air's (alleged) poor sales are due to Apple not advertising the damn thing anywhere.
Click to expand...
It was advertised all over the place by our Canadian carriers. Despite this, only a very small minority here bought it.

That was early on though. After that initial period, the advertising virtually stopped. I guess they felt it was a total waste of money to continue pushing something nobody wanted.

In fact, I’ve only seen a couple iPhone Airs in the wild. In contrast, I’ve seen the iPhone 17 Pro / Max everywhere. (I can’t comment on the iPhone 17 because it’s not easy to identify quickly vs the iPhone 16.)

Edit:

BTW, in the past few months I’ve seen a lot of big discounts from the carriers on the iPhone Air. Those big discounts are generally not being offered on the iPhone 17 Pro / Max.
 
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I really love it, and yet I got the 17 Pro because of battery and camera. Having had 17 Pro for a while now, I’d give up camera for the thinness and weight, but not battery. That might be the unsolvable problem — a thicker phone will always have a better battery.

I think they’d be wise to shrink screen of Air and make it a truly mini device with power pack pop-on accessories. I think there’s still a market for small phones more than thin phones.
 
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I think is a tremendous product, I’ve using it since launch, I don’t miss the cameras because I have a pocket one that has better sensor and optics, the form factor feels much better on the hand than the previous “pro” I had. The polished titanium is hyper durable and beautiful, non a single scratch, the battery life is bad but should not be a real concern since there are always multiple ways of charging.
 
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If it had the same camera modules as the 17PM it would already be in my pocket. Lack of Tele & ultra wide is the deal killer for me. I don't care about battery as I never even use 50% of my 17PM's battery per day.
 
It's the camera. A lot of people expect worse battery from a phone like this, and of course there will be compromises, but people take a TON of pictures these days and everyone I know who had one and got rid of it did so solely because of the camera.

It's the reason I don't have one right now.
 
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The Air is the best phone I've had since the X. Absolutely love it and will keep it as long as possible unless the Air 2 has something I miss which right now is nothing. I came from an iPhone 15PM and have not missed the cameras and the other supposed shortcomings like battery and single speaker have been non-issues. The only regret is I wish I went with white. I had a white 15PM and wanted to go back to Black but the white is sexy.

My wife has the 17 Pro and I hate picking her phone up or even using it.
 
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I think I fall into the same as most people here. I love the concept, and think it looks great, and I would love to have a lighter phone than my 15PM, but there are just a few too many compromises for me to purchase one. If the camera can be improved and battery life, I'd buy it when the time comes for me to replace my current phone.
 
jarman92 said:
I'm still convinced that the Air's (alleged) poor sales are due to Apple not advertising the damn thing anywhere.
Click to expand...
Could be a catch 22 situation. Sales are poor because Apple isn't promoting it while at the same time Apple feels that spending millions to advertise it won't translate into meaningful sales where iPhone Air profit will offset advertising costs, so Apple's like, "Why bother?"
 
I sold my 17 Pro last week and got the Air. It seems the three negatives on it are: 1) the single speaker; 2) battery life; and 3) the single camera. I don't care a bit about the speaker. It's fine for speakerphone and for anything else I either use AirPods or AirPlay. So far, battery life has been adequate. It comes off the charger around 6:00AM and goes back around 9:00PM. Except for Day 1 of use, I wind up with 25-35% left in the tank. Clearly less than my 17 Pro, but it's fine. The camera would be an issue for someone who needs macro photography or the telephoto lens. For me, it's not much of a problem, but I would prefer two lens. The big attractions for me are the "Goldilocks" screen size and the incredibly light weight. One interesting note, I saw the battery manufacture date was September, but first activation was when I set it up in April. That seven month lag definitely coincides with slow sales. I'm going to use the Air at least until September, then decide whether or not to go back to the Pro.
 
I think there's a lot of advertising based FOMO if you're an existing pro user. Apple spent a lot of time marketing it as "the best", so everyone naturally thinks that anything else is not as good.

I'd wager that a decent number of people who are skeptical about that vs a pro but don't have a _defined need_ for the pro features would be a convert if they actually tried it, but that's a big leap to make.
 
You can't easily fix how horrible it feels to hold. I think it's the width, because the slightly narrower 17 Pro didn't give me that feeling.

The chintzy-looking polished sides don't do it any favors in the looks department either. Combined with the price... it's a total miss for me (and apparently many others).
 
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