In summary
- iPhone Air sales reportedly in the toilet
- Orders at ‘end of life’ levels
- Motorola offers hope with potentially cheaper option
The skinny smartphone format may need to be considered dead on arrival following a dire report on Apple’s iPhone Air.
According to respected Japanese publication Nikkei, Apple has slashed orders to suppliers for its newest handset to a level you’d typically expect to see at the very end of a phone’s life.
According to the report, Apple is “drastically cutting” iPhone Air orders whilst boosting those of the iPhone 17 family, which remain strong overall.
The result of these contrasting fortunes for the new range is that Apple’s sales forecasts remain at 85 million to 90 million units. It’s just that the iPhone Air is set to make up much less of that figure than anticipated.
One supply chain source claims that the iPhone Air orders for November are less than 10 percent of what they were in September.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Is the skinny phone done for?
All in all, it’s yet another indicator that the skinny phone format just isn’t the one.
Last week, following reports of terrible Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge sales, a South Korean website claimed that Samsung was taking the its own drastic step of cancelling a potential follow-up in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge was the first major example of this super-slim handset to hit the market, midway through 2025. We had our own issues with the phone, mostly centring on its poor battery life and compromised camera system, both of which were in service of a form factor that didn’t bring any substantial benefits.
Mattias Inghe
Motorola’s slim hope
Motorola is next up to introduce a super-skinny smartphone, having announced the Moto X70 Air in China ahead of an expected Motorola Edge 70 global variant.
The company recently issued a rundown of its new global model via the next part of an ongoing quiz-based marketing push.
“Our newest phone lets you experience effortless multitasking with the powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor, faster RAM (RAM boost), UFS 3.1 and great storage (512 GB)”, it says. “Enjoy extended usage thanks to optimized battery performance, letting you do more and charge less.”
“With 4 years of OS upgrades and 6 years of security updates your device keeps running smoothly for years to come.”
This offers a glimmer of hope. One of the big sticking points with both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and the iPhone Air was an asking price in excess of £1,000. It sounds as if Motorola’s slim phone will be significantly more affordable.
Who knows? Maybe the skinny phone isn’t dead at all, and just needs to find the pricing sweet spot.
