iPhone 12 Mini Sales Lackluster Compared to Other Models

[xpxp2002]

I’m still baffled by the number of people who think that the mini is “too expensive.” It’s the same price as the iPhone 11 last year and the XR before it, and everyone thought the XR was a great deal when it came out.

Three years ago, I paid $1249 before tax and AppleCare for an iPhone X. A few months ago I got a better phone for $400 less in the iPhone 12 mini. These people who think that that’s unreasonable, or that the iPhone 12 hardware should be the same price as the iPhone SE with one (not two) inferior camera, a less expensive display, no 5G, and an older CPU are delusional.

 

[Robbosan]

Not at $1200AUD for a 64GB lol.

 

[bklement]

I love the mini but I kind of saw that coming to be honest. It's price is up there(cost me 1050 euros for the 256 model) and for most people bigger screen just means more phone. Unless Samsung and the rest offer a smaller size phone, I don't think Apple will bother to keep and update a mini phone in its lineup.

Well, a lot of people talked here about only geeks want a small phone. I am one of them. During the pandemic I had time to play around with Windows 10 with wsl2, and my long list of why I want a mac over a pc shrunk to ibooks and imessages. Both of which depends on having an iphone. I won't pay a ridiculous amount for an oversized phone, which would mean no macbook, icloud, apple music revenue from me anymore. I think I am not too far off if I suppose that people with more gadgets tend to use smaller phones, and people using phones as their single device want bigger ones. Which means the mini punches much higher in terms of generated revenue than it's sale price.

The original iphone SE was my entry to the Apple ecosystem. Not being able to replace it with similar sized phones will be my exit.

 

[SDJim]

While most people think the carrier subsidies ended long ago, it's simply not true.
I have 4 phones on my plan and all of them are Tmobile subsidized so price is completely irrelevant.
My gf even upgraded from an 11Pro to a 12Pro because the monthly fee was lower.

And myself and my roommate got the 12 Mini for $0 per month when I traded in my 8. Even though we're in an Tmobile area, i'm sure other carriers around the world still subsidize phone price as well.

That is incorrect. You are proving my point, that you went with the mini because it was free. I am in the same boat, as mentioned in my comment.

 

[its93rc]

Not surprised. The battery life on the Mini is crappy compared to the 12, which is just $100 more; especially when you consider carriers finance that $100, (here in the USA,) so it's $2-3 more per month.

The Mini is still a great device and a feat for engineering, but it should not come as a surprise why people are inclined to getting the pricier alternatives. It's just a better deal for your buck. For a few more dollars, you get a much bigger iPhone and superior battery life.

 

[bklement]

Well I hope this shuts up the small phone minority.

Sweet summer child.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I’m still baffled by the number of people who think that the mini is “too expensive.” It’s the same price as the iPhone 11 last year and the XR before it, and everyone thought the XR was a great deal when it came out.

Because many of us are coming from older devices that were less expensive

Additionally - it's a fair observation that perhaps the Apple lineup is too packed together in terms of pricing.

As many in here have argued, correctly I would say, the 12 offers a better value for just a touch more money.

 

[4jasontv]

Dude it's literally the same phone barring some minor details that nobody realistically cares about...

Holding a 12 and 12 pro side by side you can feel the difference in build quality.

 

[Don1985]

Love my Mini! It's the phone I've been waiting for for years. My only gripe is the choice to do wide angle instead of zoom for the second lense and the battery life. I'm so happy with my Mini especially with how close the mini and the pro are now. The fact that they added OLED to the midrange phones was huge.

I’m finding the wide angle more useful in fact! I’m very happy having moved from XS.

 

[matthoffner]

Love the mini. Can't go back to big phones after a month. Battery slightly worse but display is much better than 11.

 

[vipergts2207]

Because many of us are coming from older devices that were less expensive

Additionally - it's a fair observation that perhaps the Apple lineup is too packed together in terms of pricing.

As many in here have argued, correctly I would say, the 12 offers a better value for just a touch more money.

Packing them together allows for easier upselling, so people end up giving Apple another $100. Upselling is harder when the gap is $200 or $300.

 

[GoodWheaties]

I still want one, but keeping my iPhone X one more year. What products has Apple killed off after 1 iteration?

Iphone 5 was only available for one year, then turned into the 5C.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Iphone 5 was only available for one year, then turned into the 5C.

You mean the 5s I think

The 5c & 5s both came at the same time and the 5s would be the true successor to the 5, with the 5c being a parallel, new, effort sort of along the lines of the colorful iPod Mini's

 

[bbdani]

I knew it! It used to be so fashionable to go around tirelessly complaining that Apple needs to make smaller phones, but this proves it — nobody actually wants that.

This report just confirms the fact that most loud voices on the internet forums are just...bunch of vocal minorities.

Indeed. Unless you have freakishly small hands this form factor makes zero sense.

Well I hope this shuts up the small phone minority.

Or....this phone is out for some weeks now and it makes no sense at the moment to write about the "lackluster" sales or to judge on this forum. I know quite a few friends who will buy it this year. We'll see. For sure they pushed the other models with marketing more.

 

[NT1440]

Holding a 12 and 12 pro side by side you can feel the difference in build quality.

Are you equating weight to build quality?

 

[happygodavid]

This is more complicated than, "People don't want a small phone" or "sMaLL pHoNes aRe duMb."

1. It's a new category of product, so it will take a while to catch on. To quote a friend of mine, "It's a new thought, so I fear it."
2. SE users and folks who want small phones were waiting on the SE2, and it came out a few months earlier. (Anecdotal evidence, but my 78 year old dad just upgraded from an iPhone 4s to an SE2. When the 12 Mini came out, he wished he had "waited longer." Funny, but you get the point.)
3. Price. There's a market for an inexpensive iPhone. Again, the SE2 comes into play.
4. For some, they want better battery life. The 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Max all win.
5. For some, they want the best camera. The 12 Pro and especially the 12 Max win.
6. It was released over a month after the 12 and 12 Pro. Rather than waiting, some folks went with models that were available.
7. People haven't been able to actually see or try one out. When folks are able to be around each other and HOLD a smaller phone in their hands and use it, more of them will buy it. Heck, how many non-techy folks don't even know it exists?

I REALLY want an iPhone Mini. My reasons for getting a 12 Pro are number 3 and 4. Mainly 4. Release a Pro Mini with better battery life (than the first iteration of a 5G phone), and I'm on it like white on rice, along with a lot of others on here, apparently. I want a great camera with telephoto. On a small screen that doesn't feel like I'm holding a toaster.

Point being, the reasons the Mini hasn't performed better are myriad and more nuanced than some of the logic here would suggest.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This is more complicated than, "People don't want a small phone" or "sMaLL pHoNes aRe duMb."

1. It's a new category of product, so it will take a while to catch on. To quote a friend of mine, "It's a new thought, so I fear it."
2. SE users and folks who want small phones were waiting on the SE2, and it came out a few months earlier. (Anecdotal evidence, but my 78 year old dad just upgraded from an iPhone 4s to an SE2. When the 12 Mini came out, he wished he had "waited longer." Funny, but you get the point.)
3. Price. There's a market for an inexpensive iPhone. Again, the SE2 comes into play.
4. For some, they want better battery life. The 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Max all win.
5. For some, they want the best camera. The 12 Pro and especially the 12 Max win.
6. It was released over a month after the 12 and 12 Pro. Rather than waiting, some folks went with models that were available.
7. People haven't been able to actually see or try one out. When folks are able to be around each other and HOLD a smaller phone in their hands and use it, more of them will buy it. Heck, how many non-techy folks don't even know it exists?

I REALLY want an iPhone Mini. My reasons for getting a 12 Pro are number 3 and 4. Mainly 4. Release a Pro Mini with better battery life (than the first iteration of a 5G phone), and I'm on it like white on rice, along with a lot of others on here, apparently. I want a great camera with telephoto. On a small screen that doesn't feel like I'm holding a toaster.

Point being, the reasons the Mini hasn't performed better are myriad and more nuanced than some of the logic here would suggest.

Good description of the situation

I will say though - it makes my mind bend just trying to comprehend it all, which I often wonder if it's a problem across multiple Apple product lines now.

 

[Miha_v]

If I needed a new phone atm, 12 Mini would be perfect. I really miss the compact size of iPhone5; never held any newer iPhone as confidently in my hands (or as effortlessly wore it in my pocket). With screen almost to the bevels of the device, return of smaller size option absolutely makes sense. I hope it retains enough interest to "survive", the price is relatively high, though.

 

[EM2013]

So much for “sell like hot cakes.”

 

[Apple_Robert]

So much for “sell like hot cakes.”

Slow burn hot cakes.

 

[jpotisch2]

I LOVE my 12 mini. I hadn't upgraded since buying my 8 because I did not want a big phone and every iPhone since then had been bigger than it. I wanted the vastly better camera in a small form factor and was willing to compromise on literally everything else. Battery life is fine and definitely better than the 8 (not surprising, given a 3-year old battery). I think I probably end the day with 40%+ remaining most of the time.

I may be different from most customers in that I wanted a small phone specifically because it would be less enticing to use all day. Watching a movie on it would suck, and playing games for hours would kill the battery. I can take great pictures (I wish it had the telephoto lens and LIDAR, but oh well), performance is snappy as hell, one-handed operation is easy, and I swear to god I frequently have to confirm it's in my pocket because it's so small and sleek. My daughter got the regular 12 and it feels like a brick in my hand. I can't even imagine what the 12 Pro Max feels like.

If you want an immersive screen for videos and games, or battery life for all-day use, it's not the phone for you. But it's a fantastic phone for users like me.

 

[4jasontv]

Are you equating weight to build quality?

No. I’m equating build quality to build quality.

 

[The Game 161]

The only thing this reveals is that people don't want a fragmented system.. Steve Jobs used to say was a problem with other companies. I'd have an iPhone Mini but what puts me off is the lack of the Pro-Raw feature. No reason at all this cant be in it. It's just ridiculous marketing.

2021 model likely will

 

[NT1440]

No. I’m equating build quality to build quality.

What’s “lesser” about the build quality (note that quality is not materials) on the 12 vs the Pro? Honest question because I’ve never seen a poorly made iPhone before.

 

[bklement]

I’m still baffled by the number of people who think that the mini is “too expensive.” It’s the same price as the iPhone 11 last year and the XR before it, and everyone thought the XR was a great deal when it came out.

Three years ago, I paid $1249 before tax and AppleCare for an iPhone X. A few months ago I got a better phone for $400 less in the iPhone 12 mini. These people who think that that’s unreasonable, or that the iPhone 12 hardware should be the same price as the iPhone SE with one (not two) inferior camera, a less expensive display, no 5G, and an older CPU are delusional.

We probably have different utility for a phone. For me its only quaternary after a MacBook, iPad, Pc, use it's smartphone features sparesly like when commuting on a crowded subway, have a quick smoke outside, or when going out. So I have a mental limit for phone prices around 400-500 bucks. But I perfectly get that people with more heavy usage won't bat an eye for paying over a 1000 for their primary device, just like I do for the aforementioned trio.