"Abidur Chowdhury, the industrial designer who debuted Apple's iPhone Air to the world just two months ago when the company picked him to talk about the phone in its introductory video, has left the company for an unnamed artificial intelligence startup, Bloomberg reports. The departure adds to mounting challenges for the ultrathin device, which has struggled with disappointing sales since its September launch."
"The timing underscores the complex trajectory of the iPhone Air, which Apple positioned between the baseline iPhone 17 and the more premium iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in terms of pricing, even though the phone's camera and battery life aren't quite as good as any of those phones-including the more affordable iPhone 17. The iPhone Air starts at $999, but the comparable iPhone 17 starts at $899, or you can get the total package in the iPhone 17 Pro for just $100 more, at $1,099."
Abidur Chowdhury departed Apple after more than six years to join an unnamed artificial intelligence startup, after narrating the iPhone Air's introductory design video two months earlier. The iPhone Air has experienced disappointing sales since its September launch and is positioned between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max despite having weaker camera performance and battery life. Pricing places the iPhone Air at $999 compared with the iPhone 17 at $899 and the iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099. Demand has been described as virtually nonexistent, production reportedly cut by over 80%, and the device fell short of expectations to capture 6–8% of new iPhone sales. The departure was said to be unrelated to the phone's market performance.
Read at Fortune
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