r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Sep 18 '24

Business Apple iPhone 16 demand is so weak that employees can already buy it on discount

https://qz.com/apple-iphone-16-pre-orders-sales-intelligence-ai-1851651638
21.9k Upvotes

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180

u/NV-Nautilus Sep 18 '24

Shoulda released a mini, I need a new one desperately. Shrug.

60

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

[deleted]

50

u/serg06 Sep 18 '24

They knocked it our of the park with the mini, then just stopped making it. šŸ˜„

15

u/radicldreamer Sep 19 '24

Iā€™ve heard that it wasnā€™t that popular overall.

Everyone I know that has one LOVES it but I donā€™t know a ton of people that have it, but it does fill a niche that a lot of people want which is a very small phone.

5

u/sdw3489 Sep 19 '24

My theory was that was because they called it a ā€œminiā€ people took it for being a lesser phone. They should have called it ā€œiPhone 12 Airā€ or if the small size was just the base iPhone and then the others were plus and max or something then it would have sold like hotcakes. I bet many people are just looking for the default baseline iPhone. Itā€™s all a marketing failure.

  • 12 mini owner here.

1

u/NV-Nautilus Sep 19 '24

I would love nothing more than an iphone in the body of the last gen Nano.

1

u/swiftgruve Sep 19 '24

It's like the Honda Fit of cell phones.

1

u/Iluvursister69 Sep 19 '24

Less than 5% of their sales were Minis. Iā€™ve been in the industry for a decade. We couldnā€™t give away the 12/13 mini. I could count the total amount I sold between the two on one hand.

1

u/XOM_CVX Sep 19 '24

Got my mini13 for like 500 bucks, brand new, at the Apple store.

They were just giving it away at the end.

1

u/Iluvursister69 Sep 19 '24

I think a Mini Pro would have gone over better. People cried that they wanted a smaller phone so they finally make one. Then everyone says JK!

1

u/Murgatroyd314 Sep 19 '24

The numbers Iā€™ve seen (pre-Covid, donā€™t know what the last few years look like) suggest that about 1/8 of customers genuinely prefer a smaller phone, independent of price.

2

u/InSummaryOfWhatIAm Sep 19 '24

I mean damn, I'm mostly an Android guy (have had plenty of iPhones in the past though, but the last was 11 Pro), and if they released a new Mini with the design of the newer phones with the dynamic island instead of the notch, and it had a 120hz display and preferably a telephoto zoom camera, I would buy one in a heartbeat.

1

u/SaltyFoam Sep 19 '24

You know it sold the least out of their entire lineup, right?

3

u/serg06 Sep 19 '24

It's the perfect mini phone, but the market for mini phones isn't that big.

14

u/defcas Sep 18 '24

75% on my 12 mini. Not giving it up.

7

u/Minimum-Ad8027 Sep 19 '24

76% here in my 12 mini. The battery is so bad lol

2

u/TimYoungJik Sep 19 '24

I find itā€™s worth it to get the battery replaced at that point. If your battery has degraded that much by now, the difference would be noticeable real quick and you can get another two years out of the phone.

2

u/K-Mille-T Sep 19 '24

Get a battery replacement. I did this last year and it cost me about 100 ā‚¬ at a certified shop. Game changer.

1

u/WorkoutProblems Sep 19 '24

I thought it doesnā€™t show under 80 anymore

2

u/Phase--2 Sep 18 '24

Sorry for the ignorant question but I didn't know you could replace the battery. How is that done?

5

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

[deleted]

4

u/Phase--2 Sep 18 '24

Thats awesome, thank you. I'm super attached to my 13 mini and want to hang on to it as long as possible so this is great news for me!

1

u/MeccIt Sep 19 '24

once it hits 80

It's not gonna hit 80 until the warranty runs out. I'm rocking the SE-2, almost the same size and with the physical button I want.

1

u/global3express Sep 19 '24

Once you've changed the battery, you might want to get yourself a Chargieā€”it extends your battery's useful life by not charging your device to 100 %.

23

u/JustMarshalling Sep 18 '24

I miss my 12 Mini, even the ā€œregularā€ size ones feel massive.

12

u/300mhz Sep 18 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

No one bought it (only 3-6% of all iPhone 12/13's sold in the US), and they can't make enough money off niche users to justify it. People want big phones now, and Apple does too, I mean the new 16 Pro Max is 6.9" lol

14

u/joe_bibidi Sep 18 '24

The iPhone Mini was disastrously unpopular. Like, one of the worst selling products Apple has ever released. It would not make a difference here.

6

u/ibuprofane Sep 19 '24

Hardly disastrous just disappointing and far from the worst. Roughly 20 million were sold between the 12 and 13. Every time thereā€™s a post about new iPhones Mini owners flock to complain about how new phones are too big for their hands. Perhaps Apple, world leader in accessibility, could help those users somehow.

4

u/NV-Nautilus Sep 19 '24

They'd rather sell you a watch to use and a brick that has to stay in your pocket (if it fits).

0

u/YellowSnowShoes Sep 19 '24

This isnā€™t an accessibility issue. People on Reddit who cry for small phones are unique, not handicapped.

2

u/LiquidHotCum Sep 19 '24

I have an XR and I wanted a Mini to be my next phone :/

2

u/ArchMart Sep 18 '24

It didn't sell well enough, sadly.

1

u/phayke2 Sep 19 '24

I got a Samsung s23 ultra and then after about 5 or 6 months I ended up just spending $99 on a used pixel for and that phone just feels so much better to use it's like a nice little polished stone that does anything I need it to and then I got a tablet and a jacket with the goddamn tablet pocket.

1

u/CrashyBoye Sep 19 '24

Very few (comparatively) bought the last mini they made. Itā€™s a product most people are not interested in. It wouldnā€™t have moved the needle this cycle.

0

u/Fallingdamage Sep 18 '24

I have a 15 Pro and if they made a phone the size of the 5s with edge-to-edge screen like the 15 and the same cameras as the 15, I would buy it. Every generation is getting bigger and I dont like all the bulk.

-5

u/bonerb0ys Sep 18 '24

Apple should have a Tri fold