If you've been following my writing at all -- thank you, if you do -- you're probably aware that I've been against the iPhone Air since before it was launched. I respect and even admire the finished product on an engineering level -- but it's always felt like a phone in search of a market, rather than one built to satisfy any demand. In fact it's often believed that Apple's real goal is laying the foundations for its first foldable.
The fallout from the iPhone Air
Where Apple goes, others follow
Apple's whims have guided the smartphone industry for almost 20 years now. Some of the giants that initially scoffed at the iPhone either lost their prestige or exited the business entirely, such as Nokia and RIM. The ones that have maintained any influence are the ones that evolved -- as Frank Herbert once put it, "Adapt or die, that's the first rule of survival." The strongest success story has arguably been Samsung, which chose to copy the iPhone almost immediately, and has done well enough that Apple sometimes imitates back. We wouldn't have 6-inch iPhones as standard if devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note hadn't paved the way.
According to DigiTimes, though, three major Chinese brands are actively choosing another path in the wake of the iPhone Air. Xiaomi has allegedly jettisoned a "true Air model;" Oppo and Vivo have halted similar projects. This follows reports of Korea's Samsung not only cutting production of its current Air clone, the Galaxy S25 Edge, but interrupting any work on an S26 Edge.
You can safely assume that the ultra-slim category will stay niche for a while.
The significance of not one but four companies veering off shouldn't be underestimated. It takes a large commitment of time and resources to launch any smartphone line, so manufacturers will often stick things out even if the odds are against a (major) hit. ASUS kept producing compact Zenfones well after Apple abandoned the iPhone mini, for instance, and Samsung keeps selling Plus versions of its Galaxy S phones despite shoppers preferring base models or an Ultra. If those Plus devices are doing well enough to justify their existence, that says a lot about Samsung's analysis of both the Edge and the iPhone Air.
All this is going to have repercussions not just on corporate finances, but on the shape of the smartphone industry. You can safely assume that the ultra-slim category will stay niche for a while, unless perhaps Apple's second-gen Air -- rumored for 2027 -- fixes all the issues that tanked the first. I'm not sure that phone makers will replace it with anything different, but it does seem reasonable that they might swing development towards the inevitable iPhone Fold clones, given that that product should be out in fall 2026.
The win for Joe Public
Bringing smartphones back to the real world
While the iPhone Air's battery life turned out to be better than feared, it's still inferior to any iPhone 17. Apple could have fixed that by equipping it with an energy-dense silicon-carbon battery, but decided instead to play it safe and cheap by using traditional technology -- never mind that iPhone owners have been clamoring for longer runtimes since the beginning. Similarly, the Air is limited to a single, wide-angle camera at a time when even the cheapest smartphones have two cameras, and triple-camera models are slowly becoming the norm.
These compromises wouldn't matter so much except that the Air is actually $200 more expensive than the iPhone 17. You're paying more for less, unless thinness, an A19 Pro chip, and a marginally larger screen are somehow dramatic advantages for you. I do know people who love how light the Air is, but I've also heard many people agree that the Air should be priced at a discount, not a premium. A $699 model might've flown off the shelves.
If we're lucky, the Air is sending a message that this sort of strategy just won't fly.
In my opinion, the Air represents one of Apple's worst tendencies: its willingness to ignore public demand, especially if it keeps profit margins up. Few if any people outside the company were clamoring for a thinner phone. Indeed a lot of people intentionally buy thick, grippy iPhone cases, some of them with stands or knobs that make them even bulkier. The Air feels like device built to sell for as much as possible using the fewest materials possible -- and/or help refine a foldable iPhone, as I mentioned earlier. I'm not sure if that's true, but that's what it feels like.
If we're lucky, the Air is sending a message that this sort of strategy just won't fly. You do, sometimes, need to ignore the public to create something innovative, thinking of the quote (mis)attributed to Henry Ford that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would've said faster horses. To actively disregard the biggest demands of your customers is hubris, however, and can only continue for so long.
The 10,000-foot view
Some final thoughts
Ultimately, perhaps, the iPhone Air may be symptomatic of greater issues with the smartphone industry. Other companies have been content to skimp on high-demand features without any prompting from Apple, preferring upgrades that are cheaper to implement, yet increasingly marginal in their impact. Generative AI may be a prime example -- while the tech certainly requires massive datacenters, those datacenters have broad uses, and I've never heard anyone rave about how much they love text summaries or deleting garbage cans out of photos. It's not a leap to imagine more people would prefer a phone that lasts two days on a charge, or can actually snap a portrait of their kid graduating instead of the entire stage.
I understand that a lot of people put a lot of effort into the Air, and I would love to reward that with my money...as long as I feel like my needs are respected.
The Air's failure probably won't lead to a golden era of more responsive phone makers, then. At this point, though, I'm content to see any slap on the wrist that forces makers to think twice about what customers value. It sounds like Apple might even be listening -- while the iPhone Fold is likely to be exorbitantly expensive, rumors suggest the Air 2 may get two cameras.
I'm actually rooting for Apple to succeed in the second-gen. I understand that a lot of people put a lot of effort into the Air, and I would love to reward that with my money...as long as I feel like my needs are respected. If the Air 2 continues to feel like a greedy compromise, I'll just turn my attention to the iPhone 18 and 18 Pro, much as current shoppers are focusing on the 17 and 17 Pro.