iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max
Todd Haselton | CNBC
Apple reduced orders for the iPhone by 20%, according to a report from Nikkei on Wednesday, due to low demand for the smallest iPhone 12 mini model.
The new Apple iPhones are still in high demand. Apple plans to build 230 million iPhones in 2021, up 11.6% from 2020, according to Nikkei. But the iPhone 12 mini doesn’t sell as well as expected as consumers gravitate to either the old iPhone 11, which has a larger screen, or the larger iPhone 12 or the more premium iPhone 12 Pro models.
Apple shares were slightly negative in premarket trading on Wednesday. Shares rose more than 4% on Tuesday.
Consumer sentiment appears to reflect phone reviews when they first launched in November. CNBC, for example, said the iPhone 12 mini is basically just a smaller version of the iPhone 12 with a shorter battery life. And while it’s compelling for people with smaller hands, most consumers should only spend an extra $ 100 for the iPhone 12, which has better battery life and a larger screen.
However, the iPhone 12 models were largely successful for Apple. Apple no longer reveals how many iPhones it sells each quarter, but in January, research firm IDC said Apple delivered 90.1 million devices in the fourth quarter of 2020, “the largest delivery volume of to a vendor in a single quarter ”and helped lead Apple to the world’s best phone seller, ahead of Samsung for that quarter. Apple iPhone revenues for that quarter also increased by 17% year-on-year.
This momentum behind the iPhone 12 helped Apple book a record holiday quarter in 2020, bringing in more than $ 100 billion in a quarter for the first time in the company’s history.
Apple was not immediately available for comment.