Sorry, small-phone lovers: The iPhone 12 mini was Apple’s 2020 sales flop

Unhealthy information for lovers of smaller telephones: the iPhone 12 mini has offered poorly in comparison with different telephones within the iPhone 12 lineup—poorly sufficient that analysts wonder if Apple will stay dedicated to the smaller telephone design transferring ahead.

An information agency known as Counterpoint Research discovered that the iPhone 12 mini accounted for simply 5 % of total gross sales from the corporate’s smartphone lineup in early January. And J.P. Morgan analyst William Yang advised Reuters that screens below 6 inches now account for only 10 percent of smartphones offered industry-wide.

The info from Counterpoint is just not the primary to inform this story. Client Intelligence Analysis Companions (CIRP) broke down iPhone 12 lineup gross sales intimately final month. They found that the iPhone 12 Professional and 12 Professional Max made up about 20 % of gross sales from the bigger iPhone 12 lineup in the course of the launch window, whereas the non-Professional, 6.1-inch iPhone 12 accounted for 27 %.

However in addition they mentioned the iPhone 12 mini “probably disillusioned Apple” with solely 6 % of gross sales in the course of the interval measured—fairly near the quantity Counterpoint shared a few months later.

Wave7 Analysis, one other analysis agency, additionally estimated that the iPhone 12 mini accounted for five % of iPhone 12 gross sales within the US. And Flurry Analytics declared the mini the least profitable iPhone launch prior to now three years.

Whereas all this information exhibits that the iPhone 12 mini has underperformed, it does not inform us why. In line with CIRP’s information, the also-small iPhone SE carried out just a little higher (probably attributable to its considerably lower cost) nevertheless it nonetheless did not make up an enormous chunk of gross sales:

So whereas it is potential that the iPhone 12 mini’s gradual gross sales are partially a results of cannibalization by the cheaper SE, small telephones are clearly not doing properly usually.

Once we reviewed the iPhone 12 lineup, we named the iPhone 12 mini as a favourite. There is a vocal crowd of smartphone customers who see simple one-handed use as critically necessary, however these numbers point out they’re a minority.

There are numerous causes small telephones are much less common now. For one factor, customers are consuming extra wealthy media content material. Many individuals watch as a lot TV and movie on their telephones as they do on their TVs now, and a few social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat are centered on wealthy media which may be extra fulfilling to some on a bigger show.

Persons are doing extra heavy-duty work on smartphones now, too, as evidenced by sturdy variations of functions like Phrase and a plethora of video and photograph modifying apps dominating the charts on the App Retailer. (It is a related story over on the Android aspect.)

Regardless of these traits, the iPhone 12 mini appeared prefer it may very well be a second of triumph for small-phone lovers—an opportunity for small telephones to show their market viability so this march to ever-larger screens might cease, at the least for many who do not need these bigger screens.

But when something, these gross sales numbers make the way forward for one-handed smartphones look even dimmer than earlier than.

Itemizing picture by Samuel Axon