Only Apple currently sells a compact flagship smartphone, but new research suggests that the iPhone 12 mini has not been a success so far. Based on the initial uptake of the iPhone 12 mini, it seems that spending US$100 more on an iPhone 12 is a more attractive proposition for people in the US.
The iPhone 12 mini may be the only compact flagship smartphone released in the last year or so, but that has not helped its sales. Research conducted by Wave7 Research, for example, shows that the iPhone 12 mini currently accounts for up to 5% of iPhone 12 series sales in the US. Stock levels do not appear to have been an issue for the device, with Wave7 Research quoted by PCMag as having the ‘softest demand’ of the four new iPhones.
By contrast, the iPhone 12 has made up 24% to 33% of iPhone 12 series sales, despite costing US$100 more than the iPhone 12 mini. The iPhone 12 offers a larger display and a higher capacity battery than the iPhone 12 mini, but the latter has its compact footprint on its side. The iPhone 12 also has slightly higher wattage wireless charging than the iPhone 12 mini, albeit it is only a difference of 3 W.
It is necessarily the case that people do not want a smaller iPhone, either. The second-generation iPhone SE has sold many more units than the iPhone 12 mini, suggesting that price may be a contributory factor to the latter’s poor sales. Cost has not put people off from picking up the iPhone 12 Pro Max in their droves, though.
According to research by Flurry Analytics, the iPhone 12 mini has had the least successful launch week of any iPhone in the last three years. Based on its data, Apple has sold nearly eight iPhone 12 Pro Max handsets for every one iPhone 12 mini. The sales gap between the iPhone 12 mini and the rest of the iPhone 12 series is narrower, but it was still at around 3:1 during launch week. If this initial analysis holds out for the next few months, then we would not be surprised if Apple consigns the ‘mini’ as an experiment, as it did with the iPhone 5C.
