back to article Analysts claim itty bitty iPhone Mini to land next year

The next Apple iPhone won't be a larger handset, but rather a budget-priced miniature model, according to industry analysts. A note from Zacks Equity Research suggests that the Cupertino giant is readying a lower-priced, 4-inch version of the iPhone 6 for release next year. Target sales for such a phone, Zacks reckons, are a …

  1. Ketlan
    Trollface

    Budget-priced, my arse

    'The next Apple iPhone won't be a larger handset, but rather a budget-priced miniature model...'

    In your dreams.

    1. Tapeador

      Re: Budget-priced, my arse

      That combination of words in your post title was exactly those I intended to post before I clicked onto this page. That's like some wierd meme shit. I must add "like the iPhone C was budget-priced..."

  2. Chris G

    Size isn't everything

    Unless yours is small.

    Imagine looking over into the next cubicle: 'Wow! yours is so small! I hear it's cheap as well.'

  3. jonathanb Silver badge

    Would they be able to make a 4" phone as thin as the iPhone 6 and still have a tolerable battery life?

  4. Ted Treen
    Facepalm

    Ah, yes...

    ...Analysts.

    An unerring track record of accuracy in forecasting Apple's moves.

  5. Salts

    The reason...

    I have not upgraded to the iPhone 6 was I did not like the size, an iPhone 6 the size of the 5s would sway me to upgrade, but that's just me.

  6. StimuliC

    or maybe...

    They are working on a smaller version so that they can extend the life of the 5S and include NFC so that Applepay is available to more at a cheaper price than the 6 and 6+.

    1. Robert Helpmann??
      Childcatcher

      Re: or maybe...

      They are working on a smaller version so that ...

      ... they can sell customers an "optional" wrist band with extra battery capacity. Voila, iWatch!

    2. Michael Thibault

      Re: or maybe...

      >They are working on a smaller version so that they can extend the life of the 5S and include NFC so that Applepay is available to more at a cheaper price

      ... a key-fob with BT ear-piece/mic + 'print reader, and just enough smarts to 'pay and (dis)play'? Roughly between the iPod nano and the Watch.

  7. thomas k.

    2% of activations?

    The Z3 Compact snagged 2% of the Xmas activations?! Sony must be pissing themselves with joy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Sony must be pissing themselves with joy."

      Yes... it leaked everywhere.

    2. petur

      Re: 2% of activations?

      No wonder... the z3 compact is a bloody good phone, still amazes me every day. Value for money Apple buyers can only dream of.

      Sony showed the rest that making your smaller model also slower/cheaper is a biiiig mistake

  8. Confuciousmobil

    I have an iPhone 5 and won't upgrade to a 6 because it is to big. What I want is a smaller phone, the 4 had the right size screen, the five is to big. How is one with the screen The size of the five a 'mini'? It is to big, give us a phone size phone, I have an iPad for a large screen.

    It does remind me of Apple before Jobs returned though, too many products and not enough focus.

  9. D@v3

    2 year release cycle

    What I'm hoping for is that they will release a 6s this year, as in 6small. Then next year a 7 and 7+ (or maybe 7L ?) Then the year after a 7s. That way, they can keep selling the large phones to those who want them, every other year at the end of their 2 year contracts, and similarly, those who brought a 5s and might be starting to think about upgrading in a few months but don't want to supersize still have an apple upgrade option, and will do again in 24 months time.

    1. Salts

      Re: 2 year release cycle

      Now that is a good idea, at least it would suit me, I don't buy my phones on contract, but a 2 year refresh is about right for a phone and the 5s is the right size for me and reading your comment and a few others, it would seem we are not alone.

    2. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: 2 year release cycle

      You don't have to buy the latest model every year, and I suspect most people don't. However, when they do buy a new phone, they probably do want to buy the latest model, or have last year's model as the budget option.

      So no, I don't think that would be a good idea. Next year, people who want to buy a phablet would have the option of last years iPhone 6+, or the Galaxy Note 5.

  10. kmac499

    The Hip Phone

    Try sticking a 6" phablet in a belt holster.. I want a small phone, it doesn't have to be super thin.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple will deliver a phone for (at least) twice the price and half the spec of the moto G and have some eye watering contract prices. I managed to get a Moto G (2014) on Amazon's yo-yo pricing for £129. Coupled with a 12 mth £5 sim that gives 500 talk, unlimited texts and 1gb data that's damn cheap mobile costs.

  12. Anomalous Cowshed

    Miniature iPhone about to launch, says Reuters

    Reuters, 31 December 2030 - Analysts are predicting the launch of the smallest iphone in years, a bold innovation that will likely challenge conventional wisdom about mobile phones and revolutionise the market. The tiny newcomer is said to have a screen of only 40" and can be carried by 2 men (though why would any man want to carry a mobile phone, is anyone's guess) or a single phone carrier robot, as opposed to current 70-80" models, which require a team of the expensive phone carrying robots. There are many who doubt whether the smaller screen size will catch on, given the limitations that it places on applications and video. But that's no reason to block innovation, which must continue if mankind is to truly progress.

    1. scrubber
      Big Brother

      Re: Miniature iPhone about to launch, says Reuters

      Mobile phones will be carried by corporate/state provided drones that watch over everything we do. It seems weird to us now to accept such intrusion but the added convenience of having your entire life recorded and available for upload to Facebook.gov is just too large to ignore. It also takes snippets of your conversations and posts them to twitter. As the algorithm only takes the most pithy or intelligent bits it makes you look great and have loads of followers and likes. You may recoil at the thought now, but that's because you're one of those luddite millenials.

  13. Velv
    Boffin

    Lies, damned lies and statistics...

    "A recent report from analytics firm Flurry placed small-screen phones at just 2 per cent of new devices activated during the Christmas week."

    Is it however chicken and egg...

    Has the lack of small screen models (I can't name one) driven the lack of activations?

    Like so many others, I've stayed with the iPhone 5 as I find the size just fits my pockets, and there doesn't seem to be much in the Android or Windows lines that's getting smaller either. Maybe there isn't a market, or maybe there is a market and nothing to fill it...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lies, damned lies and statistics...

      Probably - also I wonder if Xmas sales are a good sample, it's time for cash-strapped gadget addicts (the others already got the new models...) and 'children' presents.

      In the current lineup of models from several top brands, there's really nothing I would buy unless forced to. All models are too large to fit a pocket comfortably. I'm not interested too in a model to watch videos (my tablet is better to watch movies) nor playing games (the ones I like are too complex for a phone and require a PC). A 4" phone is ok for me, even if it's not very thin.

      And I ironically recall when in 2002 I bought my first smartphone, one of the main 'complains' dumbphone users used to dismiss my then unfashionable choice, was 'how could you carry along a so large phone?' - it was about the size of a sub 4" one. Now the same people drool over 6" ones.... power of marketing.

    2. David Beck

      Re: Lies, damned lies and statistics...

      Agree 100%. If you want a 4in or sub 4in screen your choice is a landfill Chinese Android or a "compact" model with no power, no memory and all the bloat of the full fat version. I'm surprised 2% found a suitable phone. I'm currently using a Moto G 4G, not for the 4G but for the smaller screen (4.5in) and SD card. If I could dump KitKat and find a version of Android 4.2 or 4.3 for it I'd almost be a happy man.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If Apple do invent a small screen smart phone, the iPhone 6-, (and remember, to have invented something you don't need to bring it to market first) then small smart phones are always what the market wanted and I always knew that.

    If they don't then I truly believe that the iPhone 6 and 6+ are both simultaneously perfect and I always knew that too.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Meanwhile,

      Samesung are rushing out a new version of the Galaxy Mini with a 4in screen just so that they can be first to innovate a new market.

      Phablets are so 2014.

  15. menotu

    Budget priced to Apple means it will be $100 less than the $1000 iPhone.... great deal for the incredibly stupid tho /s

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It won't be budget priced

    People who buy budget priced phones are less likely to register a credit card with the iTunes Store. To Apple, it's all about the quality of the customer (and you can take those last four words either way :-).

  17. monkeyfish

    4" is not mini, damn it.

    what the hell happened the phone form factor? where is my modern 8310? tablets can browse the web, I just want a small phone with a half decent camera and reasonable music player. also, why doesn't the Google keyboard want to auto capitalise sentences in this text box?

  18. Peter Gordon

    Nothing wrong with small phones

    The HP Veer was lovely, it just needed the software bugs ironed out, but sadly it was never to be...

  19. Rainer

    Waiting for it

    It's not that I couldn't afford a 6 or 6 Plus.

    (As my employer pays the contract and almost all associated costs, it's just the cost of the phone itself for me)

    I just don't feel that I *really* want a bigger phone than the 4S I have.

    I could live with a 5S/5C size phone.

    If a new 4" phone from Apple emerges, it will indeed be interesting to see the price point.

    However, I'd say that Apple-customers aren't that price-sensitive.

    Not to say that Apple could charge anything.

  20. Dan Watson

    Rumours intensified after iPhone 6 release?

    So they're going to release a smaller phone than the 6?

    That'll be the 4S then.

  21. Chris Reynolds

    4 form factor

    Since joining the smartphone set, I've always had either an Android or a Windows Phone, but that was partially driven by cost: iPhones are a quality piece of kit but never felt that one would offer me much more than my trusty Nexus 4 or Nokia 520.

    As much as I prefer a mobe with a larger screen, I was disapointed when Apple dropped the iPhone 4 form-factor and brought out the lanky 5. There was something about the 4 that was just right, and if they could have improved the keyboard (by adding swipe input for example), then it could have remained an awesome bit of kit.

    An iPhone-obsessed friend of mine has recently bought a 6+ and has correspondingly ditched their iPad Mini, so perhaps a premium, compact iPhone is an attempt to appease those who want a compact package whilst ensuring people keep their Phone/Pad combo.

    I think it would make sense.

  22. Duffaboy
    Linux

    Apple reassuringly never undersold

    Apple don't do budget

    1. John Robson Silver badge

      Re: Apple reassuringly never undersold

      Apple don't do *the customer's* budget, they make sure theirs is healthy though...

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like