Apple iPhone Air reached 6.8% share vs iPhone 16 Plus at 2.9%

Apple's iPhone Air accounted for 6.8% of iPhone 17 generation sales, while the iPhone 16 Plus accounted for 2.9% of iPhone 16 generation sales, according to a new Ookla report cited by GSMArena. The figures indicate the iPhone Air reached about twice the share of the Plus model it replaced.

Ookla's report also said the base iPhone 17 reached 7% of its generation's sales mix, compared with 5.9% for the iPhone 16. At the same time, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max represented a smaller share of iPhone 17 family sales than the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max did in the previous generation.

The report points to a shift in Apple's model mix within the iPhone lineup rather than an eSIM-specific change. Apple remains a major eSIM device vendor, and iPhone model performance matters to operators, mobile network operators (MNOs, carriers that own network infrastructure), and eSIM activation flows because iPhones are widely used for consumer eSIM onboarding.