The "Air" War in the tech circle, Apple has already failed

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

If we were to summarize the annual keywords in the smartphone industry for 2025, "Air" would definitely be among them. This trend was ignited by Apple's September release of the "thinnest and lightest iPhone ever" — the iPhone Air. Subsequently, brands like Huawei and Lenovo jumped on the bandwagon, launching their own "Air" models in an attempt to carve out a share of this newly opened market.

However, the market outlook for "Air" models currently appears unclear. On November 11, market news reported that due to poor sales performance of the iPhone Air, Apple has decided to indefinitely postpone the release plan for the next generation iPhone Air, which was originally scheduled to launch alongside the iPhone 18 series in September 2026.

This decision is not surprising. Since its release in September, the iPhone Air has garnered attention for its innovative design, but actual sales have been disappointing, leading to significant reductions in supply chain capacity.

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst known for his deep understanding of Apple, has also pointed out that the demand for the iPhone Air is below expectations, and the supply chain has begun to reduce shipments and production capacity. By the first quarter of 2026, supply chain capacity is expected to be reduced by more than 80%, with some components that have longer lead times expected to cease production by the end of 2025.

Digital blogger @Digital Chat Station also revealed that the sales performance of the Apple iPhone Air has been dismal, with only over 50,000 units sold in the first week of its domestic launch.

"This means that the existing Pro series and standard models already cover most of the high-end user demand. It is difficult for other new forms to find new market space; attempts from mini, Plus to now Air have not succeeded," Kuo said.

In recent years, Apple has been criticized for its "toothpaste-style" innovation, and the iPhone Air can be considered its most significant breakthrough in innovation in recent years, with a thickness of only 5.6 millimeters and a total weight of just 165g.

The extreme thinness of the iPhone Air is stunning, but it comes with compromises, as its battery life and imaging capabilities are limited, and it is not cheap, starting at a price of 7,999 yuan.

Guo Tianxiang, IDC's research manager in China, told Wall Street Insight that similar to the previous mini series, whether making it smaller or thinner, the premise is that other user experiences cannot be compromised, especially now that domestic brands are competing on battery life, making battery life a shortcoming for the iPhone Air, along with deficiencies in imaging and other aspects. Additionally, the cumbersome process of handling eSIM services in China may also affect the sales of the iPhone Air to some extent.

The "extreme thinness" segment has welcomed many players this year.

In fact, before Apple, Samsung also released the Galaxy S25 Edge in May. Although it did not use "Air" as a suffix, it is also positioned as ultra-thin However, like Apple, Samsung's product has also failed, with South Korean media NewsPim reporting that Samsung has decided to terminate the Edge series.

By the end of October, Lenovo launched the moto X70 Air, becoming the first Chinese brand to enter this wave of "Air" trend, with a thickness of 5.9 mm, while compressing the weight to 160 grams with a plastic body, and still retaining a physical dual SIM card. However, unlike others, the moto X70 Air is positioned in the mid-range market, starting at a price of 2,599 yuan.

On November 11, Huawei also launched its first phone model named "Air" — the Mate 70 Air, starting at a price of 4,199 yuan. However, the Mate 70 Air does not pursue extreme thinness like the iPhone Air, instead opting for a rare large screen size of 7 inches, with a thickness of 6.6 mm and a weight of 208 grams.

Guo Tianxiang believes that although the Huawei Mate 70 Air is thin, by making the screen larger, it can accommodate a bigger battery and lens module within the ample space of the body, thus the weight is not light.

It can be seen that Huawei is striving to find a better balance between thinness and performance. Guo Tianxiang pointed out that in addition to exploring whether thin phones can receive good market feedback, Huawei's definition of this product is to provide better display effects through a larger screen without making too many sacrifices in terms of imaging, battery, and other configurations, thus meeting the needs of users who require thin phones as well as those who prefer large screens.

In addition, the Huawei Mate 70 Air is also Huawei's attempt to offer a differentiated product as the Mate 70 series approaches the end of its product lifecycle, in order to gain more sales.

However, in the face of the successive failures of Samsung and Apple, more manufacturers seem unlikely to enter the market easily.

Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing recently mentioned the Air phone, which is marketed for its thinness, stating that from a product design perspective, the Air phone is a very bold innovative attempt that deserves recognition. However, extreme thinness does indeed come at the cost of user experience, including battery life, heat dissipation, performance, and camera quality.

At the same time, he pointed out: "From the actual sales situation, the Air phone is indeed very niche. More importantly, we need to see the proportion of users who continue to use it after some time."

Guo Tianxiang also stated that currently, under existing technological conditions, thin phones still struggle to provide consumers with a better user experience, and there are no other manufacturers following suit.

It can be anticipated that whether a golden balance can be found between thinness and practicality will determine the outcome of the "Air" battle