The iPhone 12 Pro is in high demand, and as someone who reviewed it, I get the appeal. It has the gorgeous Pacific Blue color option that the lower-tier models (the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12) don't offer, and people may not feel compelled to splurge on the top-tier model (the Pro Max) as it has a similar triple-camera setup as the Pro.
The iPhone 12 Pro is the happy medium, and as such, a Morgan Stanley investment report (via PED30) revealed that Apple allegedly decided to slash its iPhone 12 mini production to meet Pro demand.
- iPhone 12 Pro review
- iPhone 12 mini review
iPhone 12 mini sales aren't cutting it, but iPhone 12 Pro is through the roof
As mentioned, the iPhone 12 Pro sales are reportedly through the roof, but the iPhone 12 mini isn't garnering enough attention. The iPhone 12 mini is the cheapest, most petite of Apple's new flagship phone line. It'll appeal to budget-friendly consumers and/or folks who want a bite-sized, pocket rocket of a phone. One downside of the iPhone 12 mini, though, is that it has the shortest battery life of its four iPhone 12 siblings.
Apple expected that the demand for the iPhone 12 Pro would be lower than the lower-tier models, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The iPhone maker even had to increase its orders for the VCSEL chips, which support the Pro's LiDAR scanner, according to DigiTimes.
The Cupertino-based tech giant will reportedly slash the iPhone 12 mini's Q1 production by two million units while boosting iPhone 12 Pro's production by the same amount.
Although the lower-tier models aren't meeting sales goals in the US, the Morgan Stanley investment report mentioned that they're doing well in international markets. "In China, we believe lower-end iPhone 12 models are performing better than in the US, and we estimate iPhone shipments grew ~47% Y/Y in the December quarter."
With the mini not doing as well as expected in the US market, we're curious to see whether Apple plans to include the mini in its upcoming iPhone 13 line.
