iPhone 12 mini US Sales Disappointing After Launch: CIRP

The iPhone 12 range seems to be garnering great sales for Apple in the US, except for the iPhone 12 mini, a new report from CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) claims. Data released by the firm indicates that the iPhone 12 models accounted for 76 percent of new iPhone sales during October and November – basically the period soon after their release. In comparison, the iPhone 11 series accounted for 69 percent of sales during the period right after launch last year. The iPhone 12 mini accounted only for 6 percent of sales, and the weak demand has been attributed to the higher price associated with the small model.

CIRP’s new report has been accessed by 9to5Mac, and it claims that while the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max saw decent sales in the US, the iPhone 12 mini did not gather much attention. It is reported to have attracted only 6 percent of total iPhone sales during October and November. The reason for this is detailed by analyst Mike Levin in the report, “The new iPhone mini likely disappointed Apple with only 6 percent of sales in the period. It has most of the same features as the other iPhone 12 models, in a smaller form factor for $699 (roughly Rs. 51,000). Its share was just above that of iPhone XR, launched in 2018 and now priced at $499 (roughly Rs. 36,400), the one-year old iPhone 11, now selling for $599 (roughly Rs. 43,800), and the 2nd generation iPhone SE, launched in April 2020 at $399(roughly Rs. 29,100). It seems that its higher price point compared to those three models limited the iPhone 12 mini appeal.”

The iPhone 12 saw the largest share of new iPhone sales in the US at 27 percent. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max accounted for approximately 20 percent share each for new US iPhone sales in the months of October and November. The report adds that last year the iPhone 11 was clearly a winner amongst the other three in terms of sales, but this year, barring the iPhone 12 mini, the sales performance of the three seem to be evenly distributed.

In 2019, the report says that the iPhone 11 had an incredible 39 percent of sales, with iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max combining for only 30 percent of sales.

Will iPhone 12 mini become the affordable iPhone we’ve been waiting for? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.