With the iPhone 12 Mini, Apple is testing a new market...

The iPhone 12 Mini has a 5.4-inch display. (Image credit: Apple)

In a few days, Apple will start selling the iPhone 12 Mini, the smallest flagship iPhone Cupertino has brought out in recent years. Starting at Rs 69,900, the iPhone 12 Mini made more headlines than any other iPhone in the iPhone 12 lineup. We wonder why a 5.4-inch iPhone is so crazy when the market has already switched to large-screen smartphones. Is Apple responding to consumer demand with the launch of the iPhone 12 Mini, or is there an untapped market for compact flagships that the competition hasn’t noticed?

“I expect the iPhone 12 Mini to be very popular,” said Ben Wood, head of research at the analyst firm CCS Insight indianexpress.com. “Flagship smartphones have gradually gotten bigger over the past few years, and the bigger design isn’t for everyone – especially people with smaller hands and pockets,” he added.

Apple’s decision to launch a 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini marks an important transition for a smartphone market that has accepted that consumers no longer want compact flagships. But that’s not entirely true. There have been previous efforts to bring high-end compact smartphones to market, but somehow these devices lacked ambition. In fact, Sony, Samsung and HTC have tried to create a market for high-end mini smartphones that combines the design and style of a flagship in a smaller space. Unfortunately, none of the three major Android manufacturers were able to convince consumers to buy “small” phones, partly because the devices made many compromises.

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Wood suggested that people who want a compact smartphone would have to compromise on features and specifications for a long time. However, the iPhone 12 Mini brings the exact same processor, dual camera system, and OLED screen to a phone that can be used with one hand. In Apple’s own words, the iPhone 12 Mini is the smallest and thinnest 5G-capable smartphone in the world.

The problem is that the industry has always dictated what consumers should look for in a smartphone, and that the phone with a big screen is better than a smaller one. It is precisely for this reason that there are no longer any compact smartphones on the market. When you search for “small phones” on Amazon or Flipkart, you will see a few feature phones on the first page of search results. This means that these ecommerce websites either don’t understand what a consumer is looking for, or they don’t currently have a small “smartphone” for sale. But how do you determine a compact phone – when the average smartphone has a screen size of 6.1 inches these days?

The ideal screen size of the smartphone changes every few years. When the original iPhone came out in 2007, it had a 3.5-inch screen, a screen size Steve Jobs described as the “perfect size for consumers.” Since then, the screens of smartphones have only gotten bigger. The Galaxy Note’s 5.3-inch screen changed the smartphone market forever, introducing a range of “phablets” with jumbo screens. After the introduction of the Galaxy Note in 2011, a trend began to emerge that large screen phones and smartphones have been getting bigger ever since. Even Apple eventually succumbed to market pressures, launching the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014. The latter was Apple’s first foray into a large-format smartphone space.

As the trend towards large-screen smartphones normalized, smaller phones – especially compact flagships – were withdrawn from the market, leaving consumers with no choice but to use large displays on smartphones. Big-screen phones are now a reality, and that trend is reflected in the high-end smartphone lines from Samsung and OnePlus – two of the biggest names in the premium smartphone segment. With the four OnePlus smartphones, the offered smaller screen size is 6.3 inches. Likewise, the smallest phone in the Samsung Galaxy S20 range is the Galaxy S20, which is 6.2 inches and a fairly large phone. The Galaxy S20 Ultra now has a huge 6.9-inch screen.

Yes, the majority like big screen phones so they can watch movies or play games on the go. However, the fact is that phones like the Galaxy S20 Ultra or OnePlus 7T Pro are too heavy and awkward for most people. In fact, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is difficult to use even with two hands.

By selling smartphones with a screen size of 6.2 inches or more, Samsung and OnePlus are not giving consumers a choice but forcing them to choose a phone that may not be made for them. Ironically, both brands have offered premium compact phones in the past. OnePlus caused a stir in the market with the introduction of the OnePlus X, while Samsung sold the Galaxy S10e until recently.

However, Apple continues to sell the iPhones in various screen sizes to appeal to a wider audience. If you want an iPhone with a screen size of 5 inches, you can go for the iPhone SE (2020). If you want a premium iPhone without compromise, get a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro. The point is that Apple is at least giving consumers the ability to choose which iPhone is better suited to their needs by clearly distinguishing between different iPhone sizes.

“The iPhone 12 Mini gives customers more choice and extends the reach of the iPhone 12 family of devices,” said Wood, adding that the phone “will have a positive impact on the demand for Apple’s new iPhone devices.”
Experts believe that the iPhone 12 Mini will set the standard for “small” flagships in the future.

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Apple may not be the first to launch a “mini” smartphone, but the ball is in Cupertino’s square as there is currently no competition from Android rivals. Many believe that the iPhone SE (2020), which debuted earlier this year, was a testing ground for Apple to create a market for “small” phones.

Wood believes other phone makers like Samsung and Xiaomi will add smaller flagship models to their portfolios over the next 12 months. Given Apple’s compelling performance, it might be easier for Cupertino to sell a 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini as the phone is competitively priced and its compact form factor makes it perfect for many people.

“Some people don’t want to go back to a smaller screen – but ultimately, it’s all about choice. Even so, I think some consumers will get a bit of a shock when they pick up the iPhone 12 Mini and find that it’s noticeably smaller than the current crop of 6-inch + smartphones. It’s a “Back to the Future” case as the iPhone 12 mini is about the size of the iPhone 6, ”Wood added.

A top manager at a popular smartphone retail chain who wanted to remain anonymous expects the iPhone 12 Mini to do well in India. “Instead of Samsung making a compact phone or Mi (Xiaomi) making a compact phone, there is definitely a market for Apple to make a compact iPhone,” he said.

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