Would It Be Possible For Apple To Make A 4.5 or 5.5 Inch iPhone?

torana355 said:

The problem with those stats are they include all Android phones that log onto the google playstore, these include much older phones from before the screen size increase trend that we are seeing today. If you were to compile stats on all Android Phones sold in the last year it would paint a very different picture and one that supports that the market is heavily swaying towards larger screens. imo Apple NEED to make a larger screen iphone and i would bet it will happen soon, Apple are not stupid. Just look at the sales of the new Ipad Mini, a size that Apple said they would never make...

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eyespii said:

A couple more thoughts -

The argument presented that large screen phones increased in share from 23% - 29% over two years is misleading, because the definition of large screens changed from 2010 - 2012. In the 2010 study, large screen was anything above 4", and in the 2012 study, it was 4.5". So to say that it was only a 5% increase over two years is misleading. You'd have to compare 4"+ screens in 2010 vs 2012, a difference which would most certainly be much more than 5%.

Also, while its true that the majority of smartphones sold today are smaller than 4.5" (70% according to the last link), this doesn't mean that the future trend is towards phones smaller than 4.5". Smaller screens are generally less expensive to make and to buy, so what we are likely seeing is that most people (esp in developing countries) are price sensitive, therefore can only afford smaller screen phones.

And this is the big issue for apple. The idea in contention here is that apple "will be left in the dust" if they don't increase their screen size soon. This is a legitimate concern, cause many people equate smaller screens with "less expensive" and "cheap". apple isn't playing for the cheap low-cost phone market, and has never been about cheap. The $650 Phone is held up next to phones like the gs3, razr maxx, nexus 4, and droid DNA, all of which have screens larger than the iPhone and cost around $600 (except the n4). Sure, the iphone is selling well but remember that apple themselves increased the size of their flagship too. And the competition for the high end market is getting bigger screens month by month, which I'm sure apple isn't ignoring.

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kdarling said:

"It's on the internet. It must be true!"

This is such a common myth. We've been over this so many times before. My apologies; I'm just out of hospital and a bit tired. For now, I beg you to do an advanced search on the topic. Just plug in my name and a keyword like "inventory" or "channel".

To start, here's an old post with a Business Insider source explaining why Apple includes store sales.

Also, read this post quoting Tim Cook admitting when their sales figures were over by millions because of too much sell-in to stores and not enough sell-through to end users.



Thanks, I'll contact and correct the young girl blogger who wrote that article.

In the meantime, read this post of mine with multiple CNN Money sources pointing out that even those first weekend iPhone sales numbers included shipments to retailers and carriers.

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DodgeV83 said:

You are correct. Just because Apple includes channel sales in their reporting, however, does not mean they carry the same weight. I've read that the vast majority (can't seem to find a source at the moment) of iPhone sales take place directly from Apple.

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"Apple sold just 21 percent of iPhones purchased between December 2011 and August 2012, according to a study by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Indeed, AT&T outlets sold 28 percent and Verizon sold 26 percent of iPhones. Sprint recently said it sold more iPhones than Apple Stores."

"As for iPads, Best Buy and Amazon combined sold nearly as many as Apple’s 250 US stores.

"Mac sales was the only segment Apple Stores dominate, selling 47 percent of computers during the period, according to CIRP figures. Retail giant Best Buy was the next closest, selling 27 percent.

"It’s easy to forget Apple has relatively few retail stores."

- Majority of iPhone sales NOT from Apple stores

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Spungoflex said:

At least you finally admitted you were wrong. Good to see.

Then again, the trend was never really up for debate in the first place.

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Spungoflex said:

Could they do that without causing app compatibility issues? In 2013, a 3.5" screen on a smart phone is comical. Even 4" is pushing the limits. Mark my words, in 5 years the standard screen size for smart phone will be over 5 inches.

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Spungoflex said:

Everyone knew you were wrong from the start anyway. You didn't have much of a leg to stand on considering even apple's trend is towards larger screens.

It's good you finally admitted defeat.

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