The release of the iPhone 12 Mini seemed to herald a great return of compact smartphones . Before the advent of full-screen displays , most phones had a five-inch display. Between frames, edges and thickness, this was the reference dimension that was able to meet all needs: it was compact to keep well in your pocket, it ensured a screen large enough to read emails or look at photos and, above all, you could use well with one hand. Over time, however, the screens have gotten bigger and bigger making this market segment little more than a niche, with few models available. Five years ago the last compact iPhone– the “old” SE – then only the Z Compact range was able to satisfy those asking for a 4.6-inch size. After that, very few phones have come out under 6 inches since then despite the demand for compact and pocket-sized models it seemed to be loud and unheard .
Instead, according to iPhone 12 Mini sales figures, small smartphones are doomed to extinction. We are talking about the smallest 5G smartphone in the world with a 5.4-inch screen and a slimmer form factor than even the very first design that marked the history of the iPhone (the 4.7-inch one with Home button and edge above the screen) . According to the estimates of the research institute Counterpoint for the US market, this model would have collected only a tiny slice of users, with just 5% of sales compared to the total of the 4 models of the iPhone 12 range . A flop also confirmed by other data extrapolated by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Wave7 Research and Flurry Analytics which validated the numbers, underlining how the Mini knewcollect only the crumbs compared to other models of the new iPhone generation. It is no coincidence, therefore, that Apple has decided, in recent weeks, to convert some production lines to stop the smaller model and give more space to the older brothers.
The reasons for the flop
But why was the iPhone 12 Mini a flop? For a number of apparently contradicting reasons. We’re looking for compact smartphones – 5-inch phone search volumes continue to be high on Google – but we can’t help but play games, watch YouTube videos, or catch up with our favorite series on Netflix on the way home from work. ; so many activities that would be penalized on a smaller display . And then for a question related to fashion : smartphones all look alike with each other because that look is exactly what sells best. If 99% of the phones I see when I walk into a phone shop have a large display, that one compact model just can’t find its way into my preferences.
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The hand of “bad luck”
Finally, iPhone 12 Mini was unlucky because it was absorbed by iPhone 12. First of all because the base model came out a month in advance , but above all because the Mini, in the eyes of enthusiasts, arrived with the image of a phone with the smaller screen, less battery and just $ 100 – which is a marginal distance for iPhone buyers. If the most probable consequence seems to be the cancellation of a hypothetical iPhone 13 Mini or iPhone 12S Mini arriving in September, Apple would even be working on the hypothesis of blocking the production of the 12 Mini immediately , putting a tombstone on the development. than other compact smartphone designs.
