Apple's iPhone Air reportedly isn't selling very well

When Apple launched the iPhone Air, the big question wasn't whether the phone will be good; Apple doesn't often produce bad phones. The question was whether there's a demand for a thin iPhone in the first place.

Judging by a new report from Nikkei, the demand is there but it's very low.

The report, published Wednesday, claims that Apple is "drastically" cutting iPhone Air production while boosting other iPhone 17 models instead. This is due to lower than expected demand for the iPhone Air, but also because the demand for the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro models has been "unexpectedly robust."

Nikkei's sources say that the iPhone Air originally accounted for "roughly 10% to 15%" of overall new iPhone production this year. However, the production has now been cut "nearly to end of production levels."

In particular, one supply chain manager told Nikkei that production orders for the iPhone Air from November onward will be less than 10 percent of the volume compared with September.

One (imperfect) way to check the demand for various iPhone models is to look at shipping times on Apple's website. For example, the orange iPhone 17 Pro ships in 1-2 weeks while the white iPhone 17 ships in 2-3 weeks. But the iPhone Air is readily available for immediate shipping, no matter which color you choose.

I've reviewed all three models and found the iPhone Air to be (by far) the most beautiful and elegant of them all. But it has shorter battery life and a less versatile camera than both the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro, and it appears that buyers care about that more than they do about thinness.