Will Apple Cancel the iPhone 12 mini?

Apple introduced the highly-anticipated, pint-sized iPhone 12 mini as the smaller alternative to the oversized iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Fueled by the success of the iPhone SE 2020, the company hoped the iPhone 12 mini would fly off the shelves, but apparently, people are not buying it.

Sales are so slow that some analysts predict Apple may even cancel the iPhone 12 entirely.

Lagging iPhone 12 mini Sales

A recent report by industry data company Counterpoint suggests the iPhone 12 mini accounted for only a mere 5 percent of Apple’s iPhone sales in January of this year.

This surprising and disappointing number was corroborated by Wave7 research firm and Flurry Analytics, which called the iPhone 12 mini Apple’s least popular iPhone in the past three years.

This isn’t the only report to hint at lagging sales of the iPhone 12 mini. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) detailed iPhone 12 sales last month and found that the iPhone 12 was the most popular with 27 percent of sales, followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, which together accounted for 20 percent. The iPhone 12 trailed far behind with only six percent of sales.

Possible Cancellation?

As if this wasn’t bad enough news, J.P. Morgan analyst William Yang predicts that iPhone 12 mini sales are so low that the company may even stop making the phone in the second quarter of 2021. Yang cites supply chain sources as the basis for this prediction.

It’s possible that Apple is not canceling the iPhone 12 mini, but adjusting production downwards in response to lower-than-expected sales.

Apple may have enough inventory to last the duration of the product’s lifespan and does not need to make a high volume of new phones. This may just delay the demise of the smaller iPhone, though.

Consumer trends suggest people prefer larger phones for media consumption, web browsing, and working on the go, while some foldable phones are able to meet both demands in the middle.