Sales of the "ultra-slim phones" released this year by Samsung Electronics and Apple appear to be weaker than expected.
According to market researcher Counterpoint Research on the 23rd, in the U.S. and China smartphone markets, the iPhone 17 Air accounted for only 3% of sales in the first 10 days of the iPhone 17 series launch.
Counterpoint Research said, "The iPhone Air is also confirmed for release in China, but compared with the base model, which is rich in specifications and features, its higher price means the iPhone Air is likely to remain in an initial niche market."
Samsung Electronics' ultra-slim phone, the Galaxy S25 Edge, also appears to be underperforming in sales. According to Hana Securities, sales in the first month after the Galaxy S25 Edge launch are estimated to have reached only 190,000 units. That is weak compared with the S25 (1.17 million units), S25+ (840,000 units), and S25 Ultra (2.55 million units) released in Feb.
The reason ultra-slim phones were shunned by the market appears to be that they sacrificed specifications for "thinness," yet the prices remain high.
The iPhone 17 Air is 5.6 mm thick, the thinnest iPhone ever, but its battery capacity has been reduced and it has only one rear camera. The Galaxy S25 Edge is also assessed to have worse battery performance than its predecessor, and the telephoto lens has been removed from its rear cameras.
However, prices are not much different from premium models. The iPhone 17 Air starts at 1.59 million won, only 200,000 won cheaper than the iPhone 17 Pro (1.79 million won). The Galaxy S25 Edge is priced at 1,496,000 won, a difference of 200,000 won from the Galaxy S25 Ultra (1,698,400 won).
In the industry, there are even rumors that ultra-slim phones will be discontinued. PhoneArena noted, "To avoid choosing discontinuation, they could take the step of officially cutting the launch price."