It looks like the era of ultra-thin smartphones might be ending before it even had the chance to grow. A new DigiTimes report says Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have all quietly scrapped their plans for super-slim phones that were meant to rival Apple’s iPhone Air. The move suggests that smartphone makers are stepping back from the idea of pushing extreme thinness as the next big design trend.
The Rise and Quick Fall of the “Slim” Phone Wave
This year actually started with a lot of buzz around thin smartphones. Samsung kicked things off with the Galaxy S25 Edge, which got plenty of attention. Apple joined the hype in September with the iPhone Air, and Motorola followed with its own Air-branded device. For a while, it felt like tech brands were trying hard to make “thin” the future of phones.
But once the excitement settled, consumers didn’t seem impressed enough to pay premium prices for these slim designs. The trade-offs became clear — thinner phones often meant smaller batteries, compromised performance, and fewer high-end features. Most buyers preferred regular flagship phones that offered better value and more power, even if they were a bit thicker.
Production Shifts and Internal Shake-Ups
The DigiTimes report also says the lukewarm response to the iPhone Air has already pushed Apple to rethink things behind the scenes. The company has reportedly asked manufacturing partners to shift production away from the Air and toward the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro models, which are seeing stronger demand.
There’s more: the lead designer of the iPhone Air has reportedly left the company, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the device’s future.
What’s Next? All Eyes on Foldables
The iPhone Air simply couldn’t hold up when compared to the more powerful and better-equipped iPhone 17 series. Apple’s choice to keep the Air separate from its main lineup now looks like a smart move, since it prevented the weak performance from affecting its core models. Analysts even suggest that Samsung might have benefitted from a similar strategy.
While the ultra-thin experiment didn’t go as planned, insiders say Apple’s real long-term focus is on a different form factor — the much-talked-about iPhone Fold. The company is reportedly far more invested in making foldable iPhones a reality than in continuing the Air lineup.
