If there are any Apple execs in this thread: please listen to your customers! We are screaming for a flagship mini!
Also, where exactly are the users gonna go? The smallest is probably one of those Samsung foldable ones. But you’re really underestimating how bad android ecosystem can be (this is coming from someone who’s been hardcore android fan until recently). Maybe I’m getting older, but I really like the part where a lot of things with apple just work.
Exactly. Apple can influence what their customers want to some degree, rather than listening. Only has to be better than Android.
A cleaner example is Bluetooth audio vs jack. iPhones had both forever, but BT wasn't popular. One day Apple coaxed everyone onto BT, probably realizing they can make a killing selling AirPods that way. Samsung thought maybe this would send a few customers their way, so they started advertising that they still have a jack, but nope.
The only issue I see with this argument is that it doesn't matter to Corp if a small minority really wants Thing, it only matters if selling Thing makes more money than not selling Thing.
It's worth nothing that there are practical costs for a smaller phone: You can't fit as much battery into a smaller package, but people want to use a smaller phone the same way they'd use a larger phone.
The idea that nobody bought it isn't true. It sold under Apple's expectations, but if they set their expectations correctly and didn't cannibalize a large portion of potential buyers a few months before announcing it, I think it could work.
The real story here is that they don't have to make them because people will buy whatever is available. When my 13 mini is getting old, I'll buy a standard size phone because it's all I can do.
At the scale Apple operates at, and the egregious margins on their products, I wouldn't be so sure it was a financial decision.