Apple, Samsung Report Underwhelming Sales of Their New Thin Smartphones (macrumors.com)
- Reference: 0179819086
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/10/18/0213223/apple-samsung-report-underwhelming-sales-of-their-new-thin-smartphones
- Source link: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/17/iphone-air-production-to-be-cut-amid-lower-sales/
> Samsung apparently halted work on the Galaxy S26 Edge this week, informing employees internally that the product line would be discontinued. Internal discussions in September shifted priorities toward the more conventional "Plus" form factor after confirming that consumer demand for ultra-slim flagships was weaker than expected. [...]
>
> Samsung will apparently instead add a Galaxy S26 Plus model to its 2026 lineup, reverting to the company's traditional three-tier structure of base, Plus, and Ultra variants. Despite the cancellation, development of the Galaxy S26 Edge was already complete. Development of the S26 Plus is expected to begin before the end of the third quarter of 2025. The atmosphere inside the company is said to be "chaotic" and "embarrassed" following the sudden lineup revision. Samsung reportedly plans to sell through existing inventory of the Galaxy S25 Edge and cease further production once stock is depleted.
As for Apple's iPhone Air, here's what MacRumors is reporting:
> The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing significantly better than the iPhone 16.
>
> The iPhone Air is apparently the outlier; Apple plans to reduce production by one million units this year. Meanwhile, Apple plans to increase production of all other models by two million units. The overall production forecast of the iPhone 17 series this year has also been increased from 88 million units to 94 million units for the start of 2026.
[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/17/iphone-air-production-to-be-cut-amid-lower-sales/
[2] https://www.thelec.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=42248
[3] https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/09/09/1844201/apple-launches-iphone-17-lineup-featuring-ultra-thin-56mm-iphone-air
[4] https://m.newspim.com/news/view/20251016000725
Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Sensible people want small, sturdy phones they can put in their back pockets *without a case* and that have enough internal padding to survive a 2m drop onto concrete.
Manufacturers won't make them any more because they want you to have to replace your broken thin, flimsy phablet as often as possible.
Don't be a sheep, don't by thin phablets, force the manufacturers to make small, sturdy phones that can survive daily life, without a case.
Re:Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:4, Funny)
> Sensible people want small, sturdy phones they can put in their back pockets *without a case* and that have enough internal padding to survive a 2m drop onto concrete.
> Manufacturers won't make them any more because they want you to have to replace your broken thin, flimsy phablet as often as possible.
Your wish has been granted!
They're called "featurephones" and (many) resemble early 2000's cellphones.
For someone wanting a smartphone, a good case goes a long way. I've dropped my iPhone 14 onto pavement several times with zero damage.
Re: Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:2)
You can now get a rugged smartphone with a large, replaceable battery and a headphone jack.
Re: Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:2)
Nah, why would I want to put a phone in a back pocket? Can't sit down then, it's uncomfortable, makes for a blocky ass and it's prone to fall out. Front pocket it is.
Re: Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:2)
Let's start a new religious war, should be pretty easy :-)
Everyone I know who's a back pocketer, has a cracked screen. Nice job, idiots.
Front pocket, FTW !
Re: Small and Sturdy, duh (Score:2)
Its mostly women who do this and much of their clothing design does not include front pockets.
Re: (Score:1)
I will see your religious ranting, and raise you.
"Everyone I know who's a back pocketer, has a cracked screen."
Then they put a thin, fragile phablet there. Nice job, idiots.
Small and sturdy in the back pocket, FTW !
Re: (Score:1)
I can and do sit down with my small sturdy ( but now very dated ) phone in my back pocket. It is not uncomfortable, my ass is not blocky and it is not even close to falling out.
Front pocket exposes your thin fragile, phablet and any male genitalia you possess to unwanted forces.
Re: (Score:2)
Agree. Front pocket. Easier access, less likely for someone else to take my phone too.
Re: (Score:2)
> Nah, why would I want to put a phone in a back pocket? Can't sit down then, it's uncomfortable, makes for a blocky ass and it's prone to fall out. Front pocket it is.
In many cities it is a self-solving problem: someone will soon take the phone from your back pocket, making you much more comfortable in the seat department. However you will be less satisfied in the telephony department as you now need to buy a new phone.
Re: (Score:3)
This. Before they started putting stupid glass backs on iPhones, they were pretty robust. I had a 5 and 7 and abused them without a case. The aluminium got extremely scratched up, but they didn't break. One month into having a 13 without a case and the rear glass shattered. I don't even know how, I just noticed a big crack in it one day. It probably came from just sitting with it in my back pocket.
So now I use a case. And, frankly, at that point I don't care about the industrial design anymore. I actually q
Re: (Score:3)
Indeed. I have never cared about the "aesthetics" of a freaking smartphone. It is just a rectangle. Who cares? I just want what most people probably want- something fast, reliable, easy to use, and with great battery life at a decent price. "Thinning" a phone to death works against almost all those objectives.
Every phone I get goes into a thin black case, so I don't give a damn what the actual phone looks like, what the case is made of, how shiny the buttons are. I look at the screen. And even that i
Padding isn't the problem (Score:2)
The problem is that they artificially increased the weight of the phones by using metals and glass because their focus groups indicate that a heavier phone is viewed as being more premium.
So the OnePlus 13r I have is a giant brick compared to my old Motorola which was mostly made of plastic.
I could drop my Motorola on concrete and it's fine but it feels like what I've got now it's going to shatter into a million pieces if I drop it on cheap carpeting because that's physics for you. It's also annoyin
Phones are already too thin (Score:2)
What do you need? A phone as thin as a blade?
Put some extra battery in it,, even if it makes it slightly thicker, so it can last a day of heavy use.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple wants you to [1]pay extra for the other half of the battery they cut [apple.com].
[1] https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MGPG4AM/A/iphone-air-magsafe-battery
Wrong dimension (Score:5, Insightful)
I couldn't care less about shaving 2mm off an 11mm thick phone.
But a phone with a good CPU and battery life that is only 5"? Take my fucking money.
I can't stand these phablets that have taken over. Bring back the 7" tablet form factor and get rid of all the giant phones.
Re: (Score:3)
Sounds like you might be in the market for a Moto G. Not so big, plenty of power, battery lasts 3 days on a charge.
Re: (Score:2)
The Moto G hasn't been a small device in a decade. The current iteration is a 6.7" screen, which is well above the 6" line that makes it a phablet. The base iPhone 17 is smaller at 6.2", but that is also enormous. I will hold on to my Iphone 13 mini.
I did have the 1st gen moto g and it was the perfect size at 4.5", but it is sadly outdated to use now.
In another world! (Score:2)
I just read yesterday that the iPhone Air was out of stock in China, because it was selling so well. So, there's that.
What I fundamentally don't get ... (Score:3)
... Is why the big players do not offer outdoor/rugged versions of their phones. They'd make a fortune, like apple with the apple watch ultra. I'd have started this 10 years about at least.
Re: (Score:2)
I owned a galaxy S7 Active back in the day.
Re: (Score:2)
I vaguely recall caterpillar (CAT) made one in the earlier days of smartphones, super rugged!
I like big phones and I cannot lie (Score:5, Interesting)
Give me the option of a big phone with double the thickness and give me 15 extra hours of battery life with the rest of the capabilities the same of the thin version. Good grief, how have they not figured this out? I don't care if it's heavier or thicker, and I'm guessing a ton of people don't either.
Battery life thickness (Score:2)
I'd rather a 0.5" thick phone with a battery that lasts three days. I don't give a flying shit how thin a phone can get, but I do care about not worrying about charging it.
They're listening to the wrong focus groups. (Score:4, Interesting)
They're either enlisting and listening to the wrong focus groups, or they're somehow measuring the wrong thing
Maybe a slice of the population is super concerned on how fashionable their phones are, but most people want tougness and longevity. At least the people I hang out with and work with.
Focus Groups is what got you the Pontiac Aztek, a car designed by committee and vetted by focus groups, and beloved by exactly none.
Re: (Score:2)
They are only thin if you let the reality distortion field erase the camera bump. Sour grapes from Apple haters aren't always wrong.
If they (or Samsung for that matter) went all in on thin, it would have been a better fashion statement. Compromise on the camera even more.
Re: (Score:2)
The Aztek was actually ahead of its time. Here 25 years later, the market is flooded with "compact SUVs" essentially the same as the Aztek, and just as ugly.
A possible difference is that the drift toward SUV dominance is a result of malignant regulation that unfairly penalized small cars, regular cars, big cars, and basically everything but SUVs. So I think people still hate compact SUVs just as much as they did when the Aztek was launched, it's just that now, there are no viable alternatives left like ther
Curious (Score:2)
What happens when you flood the market with expensive competing products that locks them into phone carriers for a couple years to not only pay for them but use all the features on said product?
Case? (Score:1)
What difference does it make once you put a protective case on it?
Do some people actually use phones without cases? How can you do that unless you live in a rubber room?
Re: (Score:2)
I use a case because it makes the phone less slippery and easier to grip. The breakage protection is just an extra.
I like the UAE Monarch Pro case.
Re: (Score:2)
> What difference does it make once you put a protective case on it?
> Do some people actually use phones without cases? How can you do that unless you live in a rubber room?
Some people do not use a phone case. The monsters.
[1]https://youtu.be/q4yIWg_LElc?s... [youtu.be]
[1] https://youtu.be/q4yIWg_LElc?si=GrG6L6xjhNyd1kGZ
Re: (Score:2)
I'm one of those monsters. I've never used a phone case and this may be shocking to some, I have also never cracked/broken any of them. In my experience, people who put their phones in cases are more likely to be careless with their devices as a case brings a false sense of security. My naked phone looks new and shiny like the day it was purchased, compared that to the many otterbox encased phones with spiderweb cracked glass... The device isn't the problem, the problem is the users who are not mindful
Wrong dimension.. (Score:2)
We want smaller phones, not thinner. The iPhone 12 mini is a better form and I won't upgrade until they make a new version of it.
no shit? (Score:4, Insightful)
Size does in a phone but below a certain threshold thickness is irrelevant.
Imagine trying to stuff something the size of an A4 sheet of paper, but rigid into your pocket. Maybe if only it was 50gsm not 80 it would be comfortable...
Below a certain point, the curvature of you against a flat, rigid phone accounts for as much effective thickness as the phone.
Re:no shit? (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple is always pushing looks over usability and practical value, and this is not the first time they have been burned by it. Their stupid mouse still has the charging port on the underside, and being burned by the keyboard fiasco did not convince them to change their ways either. Small chance that this will mean peak pointless thinness, although one can hope.
Re: (Score:2)
I suspect that they feel at least incrementally less burned in this case; since, while it wasn't obviously a good idea for a product, it at least goes somewhere: if you can make a phone functional and adequately rigid at that size; it's quite possible that there's a more sensible device size that you can still apply the miniaturized motherboard and whatever mechanical engineering you did for rigidity to; and just fill the rest of the case with battery; and there may be some other cases where the ability to
Re:no shit? (Score:5, Informative)
The thin phone is a lie, and the [1]memes [9cache.com] [2]are [fbcdn.net] [3]rather [reddit.com] [4]hilarious [reddit.com].
They basically have a viral marketing campaign against their phone going on.
[1] https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a9yNpY1_700bwp.webp
[2] https://scontent-itm1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/545142144_801323725682637_6768734681662349966_n.png?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=jSxImf5phasQ7kNvwHZl7q4&_nc_oc=Adk-coCcs30Aix5GBvRFqaQCRgBYWCKQt20XYNVOpx2DddtkchgfqMhFLJddeHZNb7E&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-itm1-1.xx&_nc_gid=4aeV9p6e-FqJ5BAWyYs2fA&oh=00_AfcUnuwe0w2l1Xq0eHC34i5qgCWEDpOn6x0UCPsjfGqvZA&oe=68F940C6
[3] https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fd6w67585jj9f1.jpeg
[4] https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fweve-made-the-thinnest-iphone-to-date-and-look-at-all-our-v0-9rpworaagbof1.png%3Fwidth%3D686%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D1a7219b3ad1128d2bc5a693c32502e39077a4add
Re: (Score:2)
main phone is a s24ultra and biz phone is a s9plus. The s9 is have the thickness and weight of the 24 ultra. Man, the smaller thickness and 2/10smaller screen size is nice after a week. I've always loved the bigger screen, but using this combo for a few months and I am about ready to buy an Edge for my next phone.
Re: (Score:1)
> Imagine trying to stuff something the size of an A4 sheet of paper, but rigid into your pocket.
That's what she said.
Re: (Score:2)
Proven by the fact that most people immediately put it into a case that is now thicker than the phone itself.
Re: (Score:1)
There are also several issues with these "super thin" phones. 1) cameras stick out a lot, 2) battery life is shorter. I'd much rather prefer a phone 5mm thicket so that cameras are flush and with a 1.5x longer lasting battery.