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iPhone 12 mini was Apple’s 2020 sales flop

monopoledance 6y ago
It sits in a bad spot. Too powerful/expensive for the size. Bad battery life, like the SE. Base-model is 800€ in Germany. Who would pay that for a powerful phone inherently limited by screen size??? The crowd looking for small form factors are looking for phone-essentialism/minimalism. Communications, availability/battery life and camera. I would pay 500€ for that. (I wouldn't buy the SE for the bad battery life.)
- amscanne 6y ago
  Speak for yourself. I bought it immediately. I want a full featured phone that isn’t massive, and easily fits in smaller pockets. The SE was my previous favorite phone. I suppose there aren’t many of us that prefer smaller phones, but we’re not all chasing “phone-essentialism”.
  - als0 6y ago
    The SE 2 has bad battery life but the original SE had excellent battery life. Easy to get confused and not surprising given Apple gave them both the same name.
- Traster 6y ago
  > The crowd looking for small form factors are looking for phone-essentialism/minimalism. My phone broke this weak and I had a choice of what to buy...I bought the iPhone 12 mini. I was not looking for minimalism. I'm an adult man 6'3 and I can hold an iPhone in one hand and end up really struggling to reach the top left part of the screen with my thumb. The iPhone 12 mini solves that problem. If I hadn't got the mini I would've bought the XR most likely. Phone batteries are basically good enough. Phone cameras are basically good enough. I want a phone I can use in 1 hand. I'm willing to accept I'm not a mass market.
viburnum 6y ago
It’s too expensive, that’s why!
- nowherebeen 6y ago
  I am in the market for an iPhone and I couldn’t justify the mini for the price. I will probably be getting SE instead.
  - viburnum 6y ago
    That’s what I did. Got to reuse my iPhone 6 case too.
    - nowherebeen 6y ago
      Just got it today. There are good improvements to the camera and wifi signal. And it didn't hurt my wallet, so I am satisfied.
comprambler 6y ago
Bad battery life? Don't enable 5G and it has a 2 days of life with continual use.
nojokes 6y ago
It was not a mini. iPhone 5 was mini.
dmwallin 6y ago
Some theories: - User base overlap with the new SE. It's possible potential buyers had already upgraded to the new SE several months earlier before the mini was announced. (anecdotally I know a couple of these) - Not having the ability to try it out in person. I could see risk aversion leading to more "status quo" purchases of people worried it could be too small.
- bustin 6y ago
  I bought the SE2 last year and would have paid the difference to get a Mini instead if they were available at the same point in time. EDIT: I had heard the rumors but you can't expect people to delay their phone purchase several months based on a rumor
- knubie 6y ago
  Anecdotal but the reason I wanted a smaller phone was to be able to use it comfortable with one hand (I use an OG iPhone SE now), and the screen size of the iPhone 12 mini is on par with the 6/7/8 plus, which are very much not usable with one hand. The fact that my OG SE still runs perfectly fine on the latest iOS doesn't hurt either.
- mgh2 6y ago
  I hope SE3 will be the 12 mini :)
BasicObject 6y ago
Not buying a new mobile phone until I can get one with a screen less than 5.2" and a replaceable battery.
vondro 6y ago
Pity. I personally wish there were more phones like that. But then again, I'd also like 3,5mm jack in 12 mini or 2020 SE. And USB-C. One can dream I guess.

It sits in a bad spot. Too powerful/expensive for the size. Bad battery life, like the SE. Base-model is 800€ in Germany. Who would pay that for a powerful phone inherently limited by screen size??? The crowd looking for small form factors are looking for phone-essentialism/minimalism. Communications, availability/battery life and camera. I would pay 500€ for that. (I wouldn't buy the SE for the bad battery life.)

amscanne 6y ago
Speak for yourself. I bought it immediately. I want a full featured phone that isn’t massive, and easily fits in smaller pockets. The SE was my previous favorite phone. I suppose there aren’t many of us that prefer smaller phones, but we’re not all chasing “phone-essentialism”.
- als0 6y ago
  The SE 2 has bad battery life but the original SE had excellent battery life. Easy to get confused and not surprising given Apple gave them both the same name.
Traster 6y ago
> The crowd looking for small form factors are looking for phone-essentialism/minimalism. My phone broke this weak and I had a choice of what to buy...I bought the iPhone 12 mini. I was not looking for minimalism. I'm an adult man 6'3 and I can hold an iPhone in one hand and end up really struggling to reach the top left part of the screen with my thumb. The iPhone 12 mini solves that problem. If I hadn't got the mini I would've bought the XR most likely. Phone batteries are basically good enough. Phone cameras are basically good enough. I want a phone I can use in 1 hand. I'm willing to accept I'm not a mass market.

viburnum 6y ago

It’s too expensive, that’s why!

nowherebeen 6y ago
I am in the market for an iPhone and I couldn’t justify the mini for the price. I will probably be getting SE instead.
- viburnum 6y ago
  That’s what I did. Got to reuse my iPhone 6 case too.
  - nowherebeen 6y ago
    Just got it today. There are good improvements to the camera and wifi signal. And it didn't hurt my wallet, so I am satisfied.

comprambler 6y ago

Bad battery life? Don't enable 5G and it has a 2 days of life with continual use.

nojokes 6y ago

It was not a mini. iPhone 5 was mini.

dmwallin 6y ago

Some theories: - User base overlap with the new SE. It's possible potential buyers had already upgraded to the new SE several months earlier before the mini was announced. (anecdotally I know a couple of these) - Not having the ability to try it out in person. I could see risk aversion leading to more "status quo" purchases of people worried it could be too small.

bustin 6y ago
I bought the SE2 last year and would have paid the difference to get a Mini instead if they were available at the same point in time. EDIT: I had heard the rumors but you can't expect people to delay their phone purchase several months based on a rumor
knubie 6y ago
Anecdotal but the reason I wanted a smaller phone was to be able to use it comfortable with one hand (I use an OG iPhone SE now), and the screen size of the iPhone 12 mini is on par with the 6/7/8 plus, which are very much not usable with one hand. The fact that my OG SE still runs perfectly fine on the latest iOS doesn't hurt either.
mgh2 6y ago
I hope SE3 will be the 12 mini :)

BasicObject 6y ago

Not buying a new mobile phone until I can get one with a screen less than 5.2" and a replaceable battery.

vondro 6y ago

Pity. I personally wish there were more phones like that. But then again, I'd also like 3,5mm jack in 12 mini or 2020 SE. And USB-C. One can dream I guess.