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.)
Bad battery life? Don't enable 5G and it has a 2 days of life with continual use.
It was not a mini. iPhone 5 was mini.
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.
Not buying a new mobile phone until I can get one with a screen less than 5.2" and a replaceable battery.
It’s too expensive, that’s why!
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.