Why does it need to the most people buying them. Why can’t it be a minority?
Comment on Why can't we go back to small phones?
jordanlund@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Because most people don’t buy them?
It’s like asking “Man, why don’t they make slider phones anymore?” (and I loved my slider phone).
paraphrand@lemmy.world 1 day ago
jordanlund@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Because cell phones are a business. If not enough people buya format, it dies out.
See: Rotary phones.
ilmagico@lemmy.world 1 day ago
As a lover of small phones, unfortunately that’s the truth. Apple tried a couple years ago with their iPhone mini and sold very few. Still, there should be enough of us that maybe some smaller phone manufacturers could fill this niche.
And maybr make it fully unlocked and repairavle, replaceable battery, etc. while they’re at it.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Did I overlook the sales numbers? Do they exist?
ilmagico@lemmy.world 28 minutes ago
You’re right, I thought I remembered that article giving actual figures but instead it just handwavily says they didn’t sell many.
So, here is one that actually quotes a number, 3% of the whole iPhone lineup: macrumors.com/…/iphone-13-mini-unpopular-march-qu…
And another: cultofmac.com/…/iphone-13-mini-makes-up-a-tiny-pe…
And another, this one says 5% for some reason: notebookcheck.net/iPhone-13-Mini-sales-continue-t…
Either way 3% - 5% is a small number for Apple (or Samsung, or…) which might not justify making a small phone, but in absolute numbers, thats actually a lot of people! A smaller manufacturer should definitely be able to profitably fill this niche…
AFC1886VCC@reddthat.com 1 day ago
That’s right. The market has spoken, and unfortunately it has said it doesn’t want small phones. Personally, I still do though.
nylo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
you could get a Unihertz Jelly Star like me
DrBob@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I don’t think it’s the consumer market. It’s more expensive to manufacture with physical controls, keyboards, and moving parts. It wasn’t lack of consumer demand that killed the phono jack.
pwalshj@lemmy.world 1 day ago
There is no option to buy them. That’s the point.
Ulrich@feddit.org 1 hour ago
It used to be the only thing you could buy. Then they started making bigger phones. Now everyone buys those instead. They stopped making them because people stopped buying them, not the other way around.
nylo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
I’m probably gonna annoy people with this but I will shout it from the rooftops
Unihertz makes one.
acosmichippo@lemmy.world 1 day ago
obviously they did exist. why do you think phone manufacturers would stop making them if they were as profitable as the other sizes?
Crashumbc@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Would you pay $1000 for one? Economy of scales matters…
Plus everyone who did look at them would it is smaller it should cost less! Even though a smaller phone would be more technically challenging to build. Next you have compromises. No matter what you take out to make it work. People would bitch, I need that! I don’t need this other thing! Next battery life, people complain about current battery life, you think they want less?
I could go on, but I can easily see why manufacturers don’t want to deal…
nooneescapesthelaw@mander.xyz 1 day ago
Zenfone 8 and 9 are valid options, I’m using one rn