iPhone 12 mini struggled in terms of market sales

Jun 28, 2021 15:49 GMT  ·  By

The iPhone mini that Apple launched as part of the iPhone 12 lineup last month didn’t necessarily perform according to the company’s expectations, and a new report indicates the Cupertino-based tech giant has already killed off the device.

People with knowledge of the matter revealed earlier this year that Apple adjusted the iPhone 12 production in order to build fewer minis and to direct more resources towards the manufacturing of the Pro and the Pro Max models.

And now it looks like the company no longer sees any reason to stick with the iPhone 12 mini, with TrendForce recently revealing that the device has already been abandoned.

In a report focused on sales of the iPhone 12 lineup, TrendForce says the production of the iPhone 12 was stopped ahead of time, and this suggests Apple indeed hasn’t been satisfied with the way the 5.4-inch device performed after launch.

iPhone 13 mini?

“As all iPhone 12s handsets contain 5G modems, the share of 5G models in the overall iPhone production is projected to expand massively from 39% in 2020 to 75% in 2021. Furthermore, Apple is expected to focus on driving sales of the three non-mini models in the iPhone 12s series in view of the fact that the iPhone 12 mini (which reached End-of-Life ahead of time in 2Q21) suffered disappointing sales performances compared to other models in the iPhone 12 family,” TrendForce said.

Now the big question is whether Apple still plans to launch a mini as part of the iPhone 13 lineup or not.

Previous reports indicated the 2021 iPhone generation would be the last for the iPhone mini anyway, as the 5.4-inch form factor would be dropped for good beginning with 2022.

In other words, even if the iPhone mini isn’t already dead, the last year for the 5.4-inch device is likely to be 2021, with Apple to then move to larger screen sizes exclusively starting with 2022.