As smartphone makers race to outdo each other with ultra-thin designs, IDC’s Nabila Popal, senior director of data and analytics, shared expert insights with CNET on whether this trend has real staying power or if it’s just a passing fad.
At Mobile World Congress 2025, tech giants like Tecno, Samsung, Oppo, and Apple unveiled remarkably slim devices, showcasing just how far phone design can go. But while sleek aesthetics might turn heads, the trade-offs – like smaller batteries, reduced camera hardware, and less storage – raise concerns for long-term adoption.
You can’t just be thin; you have to still have all the bells and whistles of a premium phone,” Nabila Popal, senior director of data and analytics at IDC, tells me at MWC. “The question is, how are OEMs [phone makers] going to achieve that without compromising the other more important features like battery and camera? 
The full article is available on CNET’s website: I Saw Shockingly Thin Phones Everywhere at MWC 2025. But Do People Even Want Them?