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Sales of Apple’s iPhone Air, the biggest shake-up to its smartphone design in years, have been worse than expected as consumers opted for better value and higher specifications.
The skinny iPhone was unveiled in September, following several years of incremental changes to the look of the bestselling device. But its relatively high price, and compromises to its cameras and speaker to achieve its 5.64mm thickness, have led buyers to choose other models, according to early sales data.
“Apple had bigger expectations for the Air and it has not delivered on them,” said Nabila Popal at the International Data Corporation.
IDC, which tracks iPhone sales through checks on Apple’s supply chain, found the company slashed production plans in half within weeks of the launch after the Air sold about a third of the tech group’s highest expectations.
Apple is seeking new ways to boost iPhone sales, which have flattened in recent years but accounted for $209bn in revenue in the year to September, roughly half of the group’s total sales.
Other devices in the iPhone 17 line-up, which launched at the same time as the Air, have sold well. Apple has forecast these sales will drive a record holiday quarter, far above Wall Street estimates.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimated the tech group could build 90mn units of these new models in the second half of 2025, as many as 6mn more than anticipated before the launch. The figures were “partially offset by relative weakness in the iPhone Air”, they added.
Apple declined to comment.
Slower sales of the Air came despite a flood of interest around its launch in September. The Air’s product page pulled in 1mn views during the month, according to web intelligence platform Similarweb. It helped boost total online views around this year’s iPhone launch to 7.4mn, 28 per cent higher than the previous year’s products.
However, Similarweb found the conversion rate for the Air was about a third lower than other models, meaning the Air’s online audience translated to fewer sales.
“It created interest . . . showing the product innovation was still there,” said Dan Newman, chief executive of research company The Futurum Group. “[But] for a lot of people, the better camera features and battery life features on the Pro just outweighed the appeal of the Air.”
Analysts at global market intelligence company Forrester said the Air had been positioned at an “awkward price point”, too close to the premium model of the iPhone 17 and too far from the base model, resulting in “tepid” interest.
The Air retails at $999, just $100 cheaper than an iPhone Pro. The base model iPhone 17 is $799.
To achieve the Air’s slim profile, Apple cut back to a single speaker in place of the usual two and used a rear camera that does not offer ultra-wide and telephoto lenses.
Apple has said the Air’s battery lasts all day despite its smaller size, but the company launched it with an optional detachable battery pack.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring said the launch had echoes of the 2008 MacBook Air, which consumers took a few years to warm to — after Apple cut prices and made performance tweaks.
Consumers in China, where Apple is seeking to regain lost ground against local rivals, also preferred alternative models. The Air “remains the poorest-selling model of the 17 series”, Jefferies analysts said earlier this month, citing delivery wait times for new models in the Asian country.
The data suggests customers are not sold on an industry-wide trend towards lightweight smartphones. The Air is also seen as a precursor to a much-anticipated foldable Apple device that is expected next year — something rivals Huawei and Samsung already offer.
“The Air is a limited-capability phone that we think is a trial run in preparation for the foldable,” said Wamsi Mohan at Bank of America, although he expected a future folding device will be priced at the top of the iPhone range.