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

[IllinoisCorn]

Completely agree. The Mini is meant to be both small in size and price.

But then it would eat the SE.

The whole point of the Mini is the only "compromise" is size---and it's not even a compromise to the people wanting it.

"Mini" in this case is not the Mac mini, or iPod mini...products created to be lower price.

It's a premium phone and although I think the idea of an "iPhone Mini" is silly, I think it hit the correct price point.

 

[cecil444]

People who say they want a smaller phone generally mean they want a phone that cost $299 for not much compromise as the Pro version. They don’t care as much it’s actually going to be smaller, their primary concern is to have a smaller price tag. The mini didn’t have a smaller price tag.

Posts like this always crack me up.

PSA: Your own preferences, hunches, and assumptions are not tantamount to facts; they’re just your uninformed opinions.

Where is the user data to back up such sweeping generalizations? Where is the product research that users who say they want a “smaller” phone “generally mean” cheaper and “they don’t care” about size?

Newsflash: that research doesn’t exist. If it did, and its conclusions were that obvious, Apple would know it first...and wouldn’t spend millions developing a phone for a nonexistent audience. User preferences or more nuanced than that, as is Apple’s overall iPhone strategy.

If many 12 mini ($699) buyers would otherwise have bought the SE ($399) then Apple just succeeded in squeezing a whopping $300 out of each one of them. Buyers who didn’t want an SE — but also didn’t want to settle for the slightly smaller 12 mini — ended up shelling out an extra $100 for the privilege of retaining their preferred size in the standard iPhone 12 ($799). This also shrunk the price gap between the standard and Pro models, no doubt convincing more than a few buyers to make that jump, an observation supported by the unusually strong sales figures for the 12 Pro models last quarter. So even if the actual audience for the mini is a modest one, the pricing strategy Apple has designed to justify it is translating into vastly higher profits across their flagship product line. For those reasons I would not be surprised if the mini were here to stay.

 

[lazyjj1]

LOVE LOVE LOVE my iPhone 12 mini!!! Best iPhone since the 5s!!

 

[blairh]

But then it would eat the SE.

The whole point of the Mini is the only "compromise" is size---and it's not even a compromise to the people wanting it.

"Mini" in this case is not the Mac mini, or iPod mini...products created to be lower price.

It's a premium phone and although I think the idea of an "iPhone Mini" is silly, I think it hit the correct price point.

People want a Mini iPhone that is cheap too. Not a premium small iPhone. The whole appeal is the size.

They will replace the SE with the Mini in due time.

 

[tlsivart]

The iPhone 12 mini, the smallest variant in the iPhone 12 lineup, reportedly accounted for only 5% of sales for the entire 2020 iPhone series in the first half of January in the United States, according to Counterpoint Research cited by Reuters.

Counterpoint Research indicates that handsets over 6 inches such as the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max outperformed smaller models such as the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini for the start of this year. The relatively low sales for the 12 mini is expected to be due to a trend in the overall market where consumers are veering away from smaller displays and opting for larger, more immersive smartphone sizes.

Reports of lackluster iPhone 12 mini sales began emerging in early January, and last week JP Morgan analyst William Yang stated in a note seen by AppleInsider that weak demand for the model could result in Apple cutting production entirely in the second quarter of 2021 to allow it to sell through its existing supplies.

Last month Apple reported its quarterly earnings for the first time following the launch of the iPhone 12 in October. While Apple did not disclose specific sales figures for each of the models in the lineup, the company did report $65.60 billion in revenue for its iPhone business alone, a new quarterly record.




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

This stinks! I only upgraded to the 11 Pro from my small SE because I was SURE they had abandoned the smaller form factor phones. Then, in two years or whenever I want to upgrade again this won't be available.

 

[mkoesel]

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 agree that the X/XS form factor would be preferred to the XR/11 form factor. But, I left that one out since it's out of production and I figured there wasn't much chance they'd revive it. It's technically possible though, you're right.

I agree with you about the bulk and heft of the XR/11 - they are inefficient. Still, if the 11 is still around next year, it's possible it could be promoted for reuse in SE3 duty the following year. It would surely be the cheapest route, which would mean the biggest margin at an SE price.

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.

If the gap between the SE2 and SE3 is similar to that between the SE and SE2, then it wouldn't be so new anymore. However, the SE3 might be coming sooner than that, and I agree that would make a member of the 12 lineup a less likely candidate to become its basis.

 

[macduke]

The iPhone Mini is fantastic. My wife loves it. The only thing she complains about is the battery life is a bit on the short side, but hopefully they keep with it and improve that over time.

 

[Dark_Omen]

But then it would eat the SE.

The whole point of the Mini is the only "compromise" is size---and it's not even a compromise to the people wanting it.

"Mini" in this case is not the Mac mini, or iPod mini...products created to be lower price.

It's a premium phone and although I think the idea of an "iPhone Mini" is silly, I think it hit the correct price point.

I feel as if the SE was a mistake if they were just going to roll out with the mini a few months later. IMO the 12 mini isn't cheap enough to justify the price when the regular 12 is only $100 more.

 

[tsa1]

I still haven’t seen a mini in person and I feel many people haven’t either. Apple stores are basically closed. I haven’t been to my cell phone store or bestbuy.

I do agree $699 is too close in piece to the 12, but it’s hard to say. Sell it for cheaper just because it has a .5 in smaller screen. They still had to cram a 12 in such a small chassis.

 

[ImperialForces]

... I returned my iPhone mini. But then again these hands are yuuuge.

 

[Pearple]

If Apple drops the mini, I will drop Apple. Simple as that.

 

[mi7chy]

If Apple drops the mini, I will drop Apple. Simple as that.

You're going to go phoneless then? Everyone is dropping midget phones.

 

[NT1440]

You're going to go phoneless then? Everyone is dropping midget phones.

Which is a shame, but something I’m not going to have to concern myself with for 5+ years...

 

[ikramerica]

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.

Some of us didn’t even want 5g as we don’t have unlimited data plans, and when we set up my wife’s 12 on Sunday I looked at turning it off. But there is a setting to use LTE speeds and data management on 5g to prevent websites from sending you content that will max out your data plan in 1 hour, so we turned that on.

 

[firewood]

5% of Billions of dollars worth of iPhone sales is a big number. But the purpose of the Mini isn't to sell a lot. The standard purpose of the low model is to cause people to spend more on the middle model. The bottom line for the Mini is the record size of iPhone 12 and 12 Pro revenue. Huge.

 

[currentinterest]

Posts like this always crack me up.

PSA: Your own preferences, hunches, and assumptions are not tantamount to facts; they’re just your uninformed opinions.

Where is the user data to back up such sweeping generalizations? Where is the product research that users who say they want a “smaller” phone “generally mean” cheaper and “they don’t care” about size?

Newsflash: that research doesn’t exist. If it did, and its conclusions were that obvious, Apple would know it first...and wouldn’t spend millions developing a phone for a nonexistent audience. User preferences or more nuanced than that, as is Apple’s overall iPhone strategy.

If many 12 mini ($699) buyers would otherwise have bought the SE ($399) then Apple just succeeded in squeezing a whopping $300 out of each one of them. Buyers who didn’t want an SE — but also didn’t want to settle for the slightly smaller 12 mini — ended up shelling out an extra $100 for the privilege of retaining their preferred size in the standard iPhone 12 ($799). This also shrunk the price gap between the standard and Pro models, no doubt convincing more than a few buyers to make that jump, an observation supported by the unusually strong sales figures for the 12 Pro models last quarter. So even if the actual audience for the mini is a modest one, the pricing strategy Apple has designed to justify it is translating into vastly higher profits across their flagship product line. For those reasons I would not be surprised if the mini were here to stay.

Precisely. The mini anchors the price at $699 while pushing more folks to the Pro line. Further, the 12 mini will likely assume the $599 price point this fall, bringing it closer still to the $399 SE2. Apple has a longer term view.

 

[DexBell]

I have had the Plus/Max variant of the iPhone ever since they started making them. And for whatever reason I was so drawn to the Mini this year. I can say it has been my favorite iPhone ever, I really hope they don't cancel them! Such a joy to hold and it has really helped me cut my screen time down and not be so tied to my phone.

Same here, Ive owned every Plus/Max since the 6 Plus. After two months with the massive brick of a phone called the 12 Pro Max, I decided Id had enough. I got an SE 2020 for dirt cheap as a second phone and loved having a small, lightweight, pocketable and one handed phone once again, but I didnt like going back to the old design and home button. Bought the Mini to try it out and sold my 12 PM less than a week later.

I really hope Apple continues to make the Mini or at least smaller iPhones with the current design. I have zero interest in a display over 5.8 inches these days. I have an iPad if I want a larger mobile display.

 

[Valmont11]

First article by Sami Fathi!

 

[DexBell]

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.

The whole idea of people watching movies, consuming all media and playing games on a PHONE never made sense to me. Do these people not own TVs? Why should Apple bother to continue to make iPads and MacBooks? Lets just do everything on our iPhones right?!

 

[DexBell]

Now days we don’t use phones as phones we use them as little computers

Thats what iPads are for...

 

[Lowhangers]

Really, this is not complicated. Apple came out with the SE 2 months before the mini. I bought an SE 2 and have little reason to buy a mini now.

If Apple had not released the SE 2, most of those sales would likely have gone to the mini.

 

[mi7chy]

The whole idea of people watching movies, consuming all media and playing games on a PHONE never made sense to me. Do these people not own TVs? Why should Apple bother to continue to make iPads and MacBooks? Lets just do everything on our iPhones right?!

Do TV, iPad and Macbook fit in your pocket vs phone? Best device is the one in your pocket and the best size is the biggest that fits comfortably in pocket.

 

[ericwn]

They killed it by naming the product “mini”.
It made it seem inferior from the get go.
Why get the inferior one when for only $100 more you could get the iPhone 12 proper.
If they’d named it just “iPhone 12” it would have sold way better.
Oh well.

It seems very much alive just not that many sales, which is probably just the market interest. Big screens are more popular. Speaking of killing it - especially as a brand where mini doesn’t have a negative connotation- is a bit dramatic.

 

[ericwn]

I think it was the pandemic. People are on their phones more, and yet they also don’t have to worry about carrying it around all day because they’re staying home. So a bigger screen makes more sense. In fact this was the year that a lot of hold outs in my friend circle were saying ‘I’ll finally try the max screen’.

I’m under the impression that plenty people pick their larger screens since they are home anyways. So, computers like laptops and desktops with big screens and tablets rule. Why would I prefer a mobile device at all when not mobile?

 

[ericwn]

They will have to remove the mini from my cold dead hands.

They’ll find ya, you’re that one guy who bought the sleeve.