Apple The highly anticipated iPhone Air has received more bad news.
On November 23, Nabila Popal, senior research director at renowned research firm IDC, stated, " Apple had higher expectations for the iPhone Air, but those expectations were not met." IDC's tracking of iPhone sales revealed that after iPhone Air sales reached only about one-third of Apple's highest expectations, Apple halved the model's production plans, just weeks before its market launch.
The iPhone Air, launched by Apple this September, is a new product whose main selling point is its incredibly thin body of only 5.64 millimeters, making it Apple's thinnest iPhone to date. To support this slim design, Apple adopted an eSIM design to save space, integrating key components into a "platform" within the camera module area, and reorganizing the motherboard and other components to accommodate the battery. This frees up more space for the display screen.
Research from the online data platform Similarweb shows that the iPhone Air's product page attracted 1 million views in its launch month, driving a total of 7.4 million pageviews related to iPhone launches this year, 28% higher than the same period last year. However, the iPhone Air's conversion rate was about one-third lower than other Apple models, indicating that high attention did not translate into corresponding sales.
In the US market, the iPhone Air is priced at $999 for the 256GB version, $1199 for the 512GB version, and $1399 for the 1TB version. In the Chinese market, the official versions are priced from 7999 yuan, 9999 yuan, and 11999 yuan for the 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions, respectively.
Compared to the iPhone 17 series released at the same time, the iPhone Air lacks a price-performance advantage. The iPhone 17 series starts at $799 for the 256GB version in the US market, while the Chinese version starts at 5999 yuan.
Analysts at global market intelligence firm Forrester say the iPhone Air's pricing is rather "awkward," too close to the high-end iPhone 17 models but too far from the base model, resulting in low consumer interest.
In mid-November, according to Global Times citing sources, Apple decided to postpone the release of the next-generation iPhone Air due to lower-than-expected sales. This model was originally planned to debut alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series and the iPhone Fold.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Foxconn , one of the two assemblers of the iPhone Air, The company has dismantled all but one and a half production lines and expects to completely cease production by the end of this month. Another partner , Luxshare Precision... The relevant production tasks were completed at the end of October.
TF International Securities believes that weaker-than-expected demand for the iPhone Air has led to reduced shipments and production capacity in the supply chain. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously stated that he expects most suppliers' production capacity to decrease by more than 80% by the first quarter of 2026, while some components with long lead times are expected to cease production by the end of 2025.
However, other models in the iPhone 17 series performed strongly. According to the latest monitoring data released by market research firm Counterpoint Research, driven by the strong sales of the iPhone 17 series, Apple's mobile phone sales in China surged 37% year-on-year that month, with its market share climbing to 25%. This marks the first time since 2022 that Apple's monthly market share has exceeded a quarter.
The iPhone 17 series accounted for over 80% of Apple's total sales that month. From the iPhone 17 priced at 5,999 yuan to the iPhone 17 Pro priced at 8,999 yuan, all models achieved double-digit growth. The strong data drove the overall sales of smartphones in China to rebound by 8% year-on-year.
Apple expects sales of these models to drive record holiday quarter results, far exceeding Wall Street expectations. (Morgan Stanley ) Analysts say Apple may produce 90 million new models in the second half of 2025, 6 million more than expected before launch. However, this positive trend is "partially offset by relatively weak sales of the iPhone Air."
(Article source: Jiemian News)
