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iPhone 12 Mini Reportedly Accounted for Only 5% of Sales in First Half of January

Imagine a stubborn Apple and sticking to 3.5" and where they would be today.
 
TechLord said:
The point is that when people are at home and have access to iPads, laptops and big screen TVS, they aren't going to be watching movies on 6 inch phones. Why would I invest over 1000 on a pro max to watch movies at home when an Ipad is 400 and has a much larger display? The advantage of a big screen always has been a big display in your pocket. Its time to stop blaming the pandemic and accept you hold a minority position and that your phone just isn't doing very well.

I'd do a lot better in business than you, that's for sure. Half of macrumours, yourself included probably, were clamoring on months ago that the mini would be the best selling device and showing arrogance to anyone who disagreed. I always knew it would be a poor seller.
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The flaw in your reasoning is why would these people buy new phones at all?
 
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I’m glad I bought my mini. I moved from an 11 Pro (upgraded from a 6s) to get the smallest iPhone available last year. The mini came out and I immediately traded to that. This will be my 5 year phone and I couldn’t be happier, I realize we are a small part of the market but I personally hate how big phones are now.
 
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bklement said:
The flaw in your reasoning is why would these people buy new phones at all?
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The average consumer cycle is 4-5 years. It could be peoples year to upgrade; their old phone is dying, contract is over, etc. It's not like macrumours where everyone upgrades annually, if someone is going to hold onto their phone till 2025/2026, the pandemic in 2021 shouldn't matter. And judging by the record sales figures of the 12 it didn't. Furthermore, people upgrade for other reasons. Camera upgrades, "5g", not just display size.
 
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The entire ecosystem is optimized for larger screen iPhone.

Using a 12 mini now would mean scaled down tiny text and eye straining. Some apps would even have trouble displaying content designed for larger screen model.

So unless the UI was specifically designed for 12 mini size, it would not be a good experience. Otherwise I would go with 5.4 size. Also for small size screen, the 21:9 ratio is ridiculous.
 
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ccsicecoke said:
The entire ecosystem is optimized for larger screen iPhone.
Using a 12 mini now would mean scaled down tiny text and eye straining.
Unless the UI was specifically designed for 12 mini size, it would not be a good experience.
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That’s...not how the scaling in iOS works at all. I have no problems whatsoever with the default settings.

Guys, this is more screen real estate than the SE and 8’s that were on the market just a couple of years ago....
 
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ccsicecoke said:
The entire ecosystem is optimized for larger screen iPhone.
Using a 12 mini now would mean scaled down tiny text and eye straining.
Unless the UI was specifically designed for 12 mini size, it would not be a good experience.
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Is it? If anything its the opposite. The pro max is terribly inefficient with the way it uses its large display size. Poor scaling, no split screen apps, shows exactly the same amount of apps on the home screen as the mini. Android does a MUCH better job at using the real estate of its large devices.
 
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It’s a great iPhone. Apple stripped it down to the point where people just thought bigger is better for almost the same amount of $ and went for the 12.
 
blairh said:
The SE is killing the Mini sales. It's nearly half the price and not much larger. People in general don't care about 5G or OLED screens. And Touch ID right now is better during a pandemic that requires us to wear masks.
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Yes, it seems clear that the SE is cannibalizing an appreciable number of sales from the Mini right now. As others have pointed out, the Mini is not that much smaller than the SE. This muddies the waters a bit, even for those who want the "smallest" phone. Many folks just aren't wiling to pay the current $300 premium for the slightly smaller Mini, even with its larger screen and other features that the SE does not have.

Despite that though, the SE only led the Mini by a couple percentage points during the iPhone 12 launch months:


It would be nice to have December and January numbers for the SE to compare to the Mini's 5%.

Speaking of the SE, the fact that it still sells well with it's 4.7" screen proves that there is a market for small-screen phones. In fact, that market was widely established well before the Mini was released. However, price is obviously also a key part of the equation. So, a new SE based on the Mini (and perhaps with either power button or in-screen Touch ID instead of Face ID) with a ~$500 price tag has strong potential to take all of the market share currently claimed by the existing SE and Mini combined.

It may very well be that such a device is on its way. After all, we know with near certainty that there will be another SE, and we know with almost equal certainty it won't be based on the iPhone 6/7/8 design anymore. So, it'll either be based on the XR/11, the 12, or the 12 Mini. While the former is still possible, it's not clear this form factor has a future. Assuming not, given the choice between the 12 and 12 Mini for a built-to-cost device, one could reasonable expect the smaller device to get the nod. I am intrigued to see how it plays out.
 
the iPhone 12 mini was an instant buy for me, bought it at launch, I ain't buying another one in January lol I would happily pay more too if they put stainless steel band and lidar
 
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Well yeah, people like me with the SE got frustrated waiting for a replacement small phone for YEARS. Then the SE2 comes out. Well damn, looks like apple is giving up the small phone buyers so we settle for an SE2 as a replacement.
A few months later, the 12 Mini comes out. WTF Apple???? Now I'm stuck with this Phablet SE2.
 
I did have a hard think about the Mini but ended up buying a XR to tide me over until the next major release.


Still miss Touch ID and if the iPhone Mini was in the £499 price I may have gone for
 
I for one absolutely adore this phone. I went from a XS Max to a 12 Pro Max. Sure battery was amazing but I really was hoping for 120Hz screen. T-Mobile ended up running a promo for a free iPhone 12 mini if you trade in an iPhone 8 or newer, returned the 12 Pro Max, bought a used 8 and got the mini for free. Absolutely love the size. Probably wont get the 13/12s mini cos I really want 120hz, but its really such an amazing phone.
 
TechLord said:
The average consumer cycle is 4-5 years. It could be peoples year to upgrade; their old phone is dying, contract is over, etc. It's not like macrumours where everyone upgrades annually, if someone is going to hold onto their phone till 2025/2026, the pandemic in 2021 shouldn't matter. And judging by the record sales figures of the 12 it didn't. Furthermore, people upgrade for other reasons. Camera upgrades, "5g", not just display size.
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This year people would have to pay for an inferior 5g modem an early adopter price. With the pandemic, this is the worst year to upgrade. I am not an annual upgrader, still on original SE, and no way I would switch a touchid phone for a faceid one now. If my phone would die now I'd rather buy a cheap feature phone and wait out 13.
 
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mkoesel said:
Yes, it seems clear that the SE is cannibalizing an appreciable number of sales from the Mini right now. As others have pointed out, the Mini is not that much smaller than the SE. This muddies the waters a bit, even for those who want the "smallest" phone. Many folks just aren't wiling to pay the current $300 premium for the slightly smaller Mini, even with its larger screen and other features that the SE does not have.

Despite that though, the SE only led the Mini by a couple percentage points during the iPhone 12 launch months:


It would be nice to have December and January numbers for the SE to compare to the Mini's 5%.

Speaking of the SE, the fact that it still sells well with it's 4.7" screen proves that there is a market for small-screen phones. In fact, that market was widely established well before the Mini was released. However, price is obviously also a key part of the equation. So, a new SE based on the Mini (and perhaps with either power button or in-screen Touch ID instead of Face ID) with a ~$500 price tag has strong potential to take all of the market share currently claimed by the existing SE and Mini combined.

It may very well be that such a device is on its way. After all, we know with near certainty that there will be another SE, and we know with almost equal certainty it won't be based on the iPhone 6/7/8 design anymore. So, it'll either be based on the XR/11, the 12, or the 12 Mini. While the former is still possible, it's not clear this form factor has a future. Assuming not, given the choice between the 12 and 12 Mini for a built-to-cost device, one could reasonable expect the smaller device to get the nod. I am intrigued to see how it plays out.
Click to expand...

I'd be very surprised if it was based on the 12. Most likely either the XR/11 or the X/XS, with a preference for the latter. The former are just massive bricks. Either way the XR/11 will probably disappear.

I'm hoping it might be based on the Mini because it's the size I want, but cheaper, but it would just surprise me if Apple used a very current design for the SE.
 
bklement said:
This year people would have to pay for an inferior 5g modem an early adopter price. With the pandemic, this is the worst year to upgrade. I am not an annual upgrader, still on original SE, and no way I would switch a touchid phone for a faceid one now. If my phone would die now I'd rather buy a cheap feature phone and wait out 13.
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The average consumer isn't as tech literate as people on this forum. They just see "5g" and go with the marketing. It was a record year sales wise for Apple despite the pandemic.

I was going to wait for the 12S/13 myself. My old mans phone died so I gave him my iPhone 11 and purchased the 12. I would have stuck it out for the 12S/13 pro or pro max otherwise. I want 120hz.
 
TechLord said:
They should never have bothered with OLED on the mini. If people buying the mini aren't watching much content, then it doesn't make sense to invest in such an expensive premium screen tech. They should of stuck an LCD on the mini and cut the price.
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Completely agree. The Mini is meant to be both small in size and price.
 
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My wife upgraded to the mini and is perfectly happy. I intend to upgrade later this year. We both had original SEs and they were getting long in the tooth. Perfect phone for us because we have tablets and computers and don't need or want a computer phone.
 
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5% of iPhones means it only generated $328 million in sales (assuming 5% of revenue). What a loser!

Even at a lower ASP it still maybe got $200 million. Suck!

/s
 
spiderman0616 said:
The whole idea of there being a huge subset of users that still want a tiny iPhone has never made sense to me. They're just a really vocal minority that never seems to amount to much in significant sales. Most people use their smartphones more than any other device, and as smartphones become more and more capable every year, the screens actually NEED to be bigger. If you're just looking at Twitter and iMessage and making phone calls, yeah, a tiny phone might be fine. But most people do more than that with their phones and the sales prove it.
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My wife and I actually use our phone less than we use our tablets and computers. We don't consume media on a small screen (phone, tablet, or computer). That is what the big screen is for.
 
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