No it wasn't, the first generation Note wasn't even a year old when the iPhone 5 rolled out.
All these huge phones are cringy as hell, and the standard 6S is huge compared to the SE in the pocket, where it matters. The 4" screen is perfect for those of us who have better things to do than watch Netflix or whatever on a phone - Hell i'd go 3.5" if I could. Worked fine when I had an iPhone 4, what's different these days?
Look at all these people saying how the next release (same with the last release) is boring. It is boring, because every phone is huge these days. Is there even an Android equivalent of the SE?
I want a phone version of the 6th gen iPod touch, now that would be awesome
Hmm, I just thought of an advertising campaign, have imagery of a bunch of boring people on a bus or train all with their faces lit up by their phablet screens, then some attractive person pulling a super thin 3.5" iphone out of their jeans coin pocket and start chatting about, I dunno, whatever attractive people talk about. Kind of like the 1984 campaign but... reimagined for the next generation of tech needing a shake up with something new
add some cringy line about how a phone is "for those who want more out of life" or something, et voila