Khaberni - The iPhone Air from Apple, which represents the biggest change in the design of its smartphones in years, experienced worse-than-expected sales, as consumers opted for better value and higher specifications.
Apple unveiled this slim phone in September, after several years of gradual design modifications to its best-selling device. However, its relatively high price and the compromises made to the cameras and speaker to achieve a thickness of 5.64 mm prompted buyers to choose other models, according to preliminary sales data.
Nabila Boupal from International Data Corporation said, "Apple had higher expectations for the iPhone Air but did not achieve them," according to a report in the British newspaper Financial Times.
The institution, which tracks iPhone sales through Apple's supply chain verification processes, found that the company cut the phone's production plans in half within weeks of its launch after iPhone Air achieved about one-third of the company's highest expectations.
Apple is looking for new ways to boost iPhone sales, which have slowed in recent years, although they reached $209 billion in the fiscal year ending in September, nearly half of the company's total sales.
The other devices in the iPhone 17 series, which were launched concurrently with the iPhone Air, recorded good sales. Apple expected these sales to reach a record quarter during the holiday season, surpassing Wall Street forecasts.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate that the company will be able to produce 90 million units of these new models in the second half of 2025, an increase of up to 6 million units more than expected before the launch. They added that these figures are partly faced with a relative weakness in iPhone Air sales.
The slowdown in iPhone Air sales occurred despite significant interest in its September launch. The iPhone Air's webpage achieved one million views during the same month, according to the "SimilarWeb" web analytics platform.
This contributed to a total increase in online views related to this year's iPhone series launch to 7.4 million views, 28% higher than last year's products.
Analysts at the global market analytics firm Forrester said that Apple priced the iPhone Air at a "critical price point," as it was very close to the higher model in the iPhone 17 series and too far from the basic model, resulting in "lukewarm" interest.
The slim phone is priced at $999, which is only $100 cheaper than the iPhone Pro, while the basic model of the iPhone 17 is priced at $799.
To achieve the thin design of the Air, Apple reduced the number of speakers to one instead of the usual two and used a rear camera that does not offer wide-angle and telephoto lenses.
Apple said that the battery of the iPhone Air lasts all day despite its small size, but the company launched it with an optional external battery that is placed on the back of the phone.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring said that the launch of the device reminds him of what happened with the MacBook Air in 2008, which took consumers several years to adapt to after Apple lowered prices and improved performance.
