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Comment by wijwp | Hacker News Reader

You can't just look at units sold, you have to look at net units sold because the version of the product existed.

For example, if 5.9 million of those 6 million people would have bought the larger iPhone model anyway, then you didn't actually gain much by offering the Mini unit.

I have no idea what those numbers are, though.

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> You can't just look at hamburger sales to judge hamburger demand. You have to consider an alternate universe where hamburgers aren't on the menu, then subtract all the people who would have ordered something else for lunch vs going hungry.

I know this probably is how the decisions get made. Especially if the alternative has a higher profit margin. I just have to say I think the world is worse for it.

That's an important analysis but it's answering a different question from whether the product would sell enough to make a nice profit.

And it only works when there are notable deficits in competition. Otherwise a company with less to cannibalize would make the smaller model and get themselves 3-6 million sales.

> For example, if 5.9 million of those 6 million people would have bought the larger iPhone model anyway, then you didn't actually gain much by offering the Mini unit.

If nothing else, you could still give the mini a higher margin and make some gains that way.

That’s another issue, those same users won’t tolerate paying more for a smaller phone. They’re picky and principled, which is a customer type that is just not worth chasing at scale.

Hi, my name is PickyAndPrincipled. Ha, that describes me perfectly and is the reason why I still use a Pixel 4a. It works still great and has a nice form factor.

And that’s fine! Just don’t be surprised when new phone manufacturers don’t see an incentive in catering to you.

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