Is the iPhone Air a flop in the making or should Apple be more patient with it?

Could the iPhone Air be a bigger hit than we think?

The iPhone Air is certainly not a bad product, but it’s probably not as successful as Apple predicted either, at least for the time being. | Image Credit — Apple

But do we really think that the company somehow predicted the early sales numbers of a “pioneering” device like the iPhone Air better than those of the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, all of which had so many forerunners and so many ways to hint at their performance?

I certainly don’t think so, and I also believe that even if Apple could have magically seen the future, it wouldn’t have produced precisely as many Air units as it needed to perfectly handle your initial demand. It’s called maintaining an illusion of success not aligned with reality, and I believe it’s actually what the company is doing with the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max.

When should Apple panic?

If recent history is any indication, I think we’re already past that point or at least we’re approaching the point very quickly. Look, I’m not saying the iPhone 16 Plus was a huge hit, but it wasn’t the colossal flop many analysts made it look like, and even if it was, Apple’s poor marketing around the device certainly played a key role in its downfall.

And here’s the thing – one device has to get that title, and there’s really no shame in being the least successful phone in a super-successful series. If Apple can learn to live with that and stop making changes for the sake of change every three or four years, I believe the iPhone Air line can (eventually) thrive… or at least survive in an often ruthless industry.

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