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9 of Top 10 U.S. Smartphone Activations on Christmas Day 2020 Were iPhones
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I have a theory that Apple made the mini to have a "less expensive" (cost wise) model as the whole iPhone 12 lineup is getting OLED (might be pushing the bom of the iPhone 12 quite a bit). As with any mass production, cost goes down once the yield is better. So we'll see what Apple will do next year or two. I am thinking that once the regular iPhone's bom goes down to the point that $700 price will give Apple the margin that they want, they will nix the mini and the regular iPhone price point will return to $700.
Just a theory. We will see what happen in 2021.
I wanted (still do) the mini but got the SE instead for the Touch ID
Once Apple has touch on a mini size phone, I'm onboard with it.
Not about hand size for me
It is pocketability that makes the difference
I traded in my 8+
It was just too big...
Once Apple has touch on a mini size phone, I'm onboard with it.
Not about hand size for me
It is pocketability that makes the difference
I traded in my 8+
It was just too big...
OLED isn’t exactly a bleeding edge technology anymore. Costs aren’t going to significantly decrease for the panels. And what happens when Apple decides to roll out microled? Having a cheaper 5.4” screen would certainly help their ability to offer a lower price point phone to put it in.
Ya i hear ya but if Apple was going to charge more just to make more money then they would be doing it to countries like Canada, UK, Australia etc. Not poorer countries like Indonesia, Thailand, India and so on.
I wouldn’t need an iPhone if I could fully use my iPad as an iPhone. Maybe that’s apple’s strategy.
Any decisions about the sizes of the next iPhones had to be locked-in already. They would've internally had to commit to a "12s mini/13 mini" before the 12 mini went on sale. The leaks that came out about a month or two ago already indicated that Apple committed to the same four models as this year: a 5.4" mini, a 6.1" regular, a 6.1" Pro, and a 6.7" Pro Max.
Whatever we see in 2021 is not going to reflect Apple's decision to stay with the "mini" size. What happens in 2022 can and will likely be influenced by the sales performance 12 mini.
What's missing? Do you need to be able to hold a 12.9" iPad Pro to your ear to make calls?
Oh yes I can.
Take the $399 base iPhone SE. Taking into account the import duties and VAT/GST/Sales tax, it ends up around $475. But the official price from the official distributor in my country is about $540. Now that is assuming the product is imported using the retail price. The distributor surely get a lower distributor price from Apple.
Exactly my dilemma: the 12 mini for the smallest size, or the 12 pro for the better camera? In the end I decided on the mini.
Dude you're basically agreeing with me
The smaller variant of iphone HAS sold better, when you look at a like for like comparison. For example, the 7 sold more than 7 plus. 8 sold more than 8 plus. 11 sold more than 11 max.
I literally said that the numbers suggest that if anything people want a medium sized phone
Oh yeah, I guess I missed reading the last part of your post, and misread smaller as "small." High five. *
The 12 Pro doesn't have a better camera. It just has an extra telephoto camera. The wide and ultra wide are the same with the non pro models. You might have meant the 12 Pro Max.
The footprint size (not screen) between the 12 mini and the 2020 SE is pretty small. The price difference is pretty huge. Some of us want small + reasonable price. $700 is not reasonable. $400 is still overpriced but closer to reasonable. Got the SE for spouse and looking at the 11 for my son. I’d get the mini but my original SE works fine (ish). Battery is dying (have replacement in hand) but 2 gb memory is killing me with DJI Fly software. I suspect it reallyneeds a min of 3 gb.
First of all, you said “decades of electronics sales”. And whether we’re taking about phones or tablets makes little difference. Yes, miniaturizing something costs money. But that miniaturization often leads to cramming more stuff into a given space, increasing total device cost further. And most of the costly components in the mini weren’t further miniturized from the regular 12 anyway. The cameras aren’t smaller. The A14 isn’t smaller. However the screen and battery are smaller which common sense tells you makes them cheaper. You have to really stretch common sense to be under the impression that a 12 mini should be more expensive than the 12. Bigger is almost always more expensive.
I remember people that only like small screened phones making the prediction that the iPhone 12 Mini would be the best selling model. There was suppose to be all this demand for small phones, but I guess not. Looks like 6" to 6.5" is the sweet spot for phone screen size these days.
OK, if we want to be pedantic, it’s correct I should have said “a better camera system.” The extra telephoto is exactly what I meant.
3 out of 3 in my household have cell phones. 2 out of 3 make and receive phone calls almost exclusively on our ipads. I also use my mac mini to make and receive phone calls (not facetime but regular old time calls). The third one has been known to receive calls on his ipad and watch. So yeah, not everyone wants or needs a cell phone.
It makes a huge difference. A device you are expected to hold and on yourself all day is far different than one that you are expected to use at a table and transport in a bag. Just like people assume a thinner TV is more expensive than a wider one. The issue with phones is that most people would expect the mini to cost more because of miniaturization, but when it didn't they likely assumed based on pervious devices that it was missing features of the larger unit. Which makes sense to think because more expensive iPhones have always had more features. So people who want a flagship are buying the pro because it is more feature complete or the 12 because they think it is. People who want a smaller phone are buying the pro or the mini.
Because Android users already had 5G phones. More android phones get sold each year than iPhones, so the Xmas stat really doesn't mean anything
You’re so far out in left field with most of what you’ve said in this thread. Most people realize bigger means more expensive. Apple Watch 40 mm vs 44 mm? Do you think people are confused on why the 40 mm is cheaper?
First, this is US numbers. It makes sense considering Apple's marketshare in the US.
Second, they based it on phone models. There are simply more options for Android out there for people to choose from.
Of course it would be interesting to see the activation numbers just based on the platform (iOS vs Android).
I didn't realize the 44 mm Apple Watch weighs twice as much as the 40 mm model.