Smartphones with smaller screens are a thing of the past. Companies have been changing the standard size of a smartphone every year. And in 2020, it has already gone past the 6-inch size displays. In the light of this, a tipster on Weibo says he has not heard any news about the launch of mini Android devices from China.

Tipster Digital Chat Station(translated) on Weibo says(via ITHome) he hasn’t heard of any domestic manufacturers listing new Android small-screen phones. He feels that their cost is too much and requires a modified production line. He adds that even if companies were to procure displays from the local market, there aren’t many options.

Also, a component market that operates based on the supply chain requirement doesn’t work that way. If we take smaller smartphones like the iPhone 12 mini, Apple had to heavily customize it. Right from the body, display, to the internals, and battery, they add to the cost of production more than a device that has a ubiquitous design. This is because it is simply easier to purchase the components ready-made rather than modifying it yourselves.

To assert this, the tipster also mentions the 5.4-inch OLED screen on iPhone 12 mini is the most expensive component of all. Even if you take the risk of doing it, the returns are weak due to less demand. Small screen phones don’t share a large percentage of the shipments. And as the tipster says, a mismatch happens with selling price and cost of production.

Goodbye to compact Android devices?

However, this negates the hints which company’s executives like Redmi were leaving behind recently. Product director of Redmi, Wang Teng said that the company was considering launching a small screen device. Later Redmi GM teased a mini smartphone whilst warning about reduced battery life.

Currently, very few companies like Google, Sony make small screen Android devices. This year Google launched the budget Pixel 4a with a 5.81-inch OLED display. It also has the higher-priced Pixel 5 with a display just about the same size as 4a. On the other hand, Sony has launched Xperia 5 II with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. It is a flagship device at a compact size.

Not to mention Apple’s commitment to compact devices is high as well. It resurrected the iPhone SE lineup after many years and launched an iPhone SE 2020 that basically has the shell of an iPhone 8. That said, considering the tipsters’ track record and his reported contacts with vendors of Huawei, Redmi, and others suggests that he could be right in this regard.

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