Because the 12 and 13 minis didn’t sell for shit. That’s why.
There’s no point in keeping around a product line that nobody is buying.
Yeah great.
I just returned a pixel 7a because it was just too big. After years of android, from the g1 onwards, I was about to switch to Apple, just to get a small phone as there’s just no small android on the market. But not anymore… No reason to switch ecosystems if I know I’ll run into the same problem in a few years there.
/edit That doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I obviously want something nobody else wants. It’s still annoying.
Sony doesn’t make small phones. The Xperia 10 and 5 are 68 mm wide and 155 and 154 mm tall. The zenfone 10 is just as wide but 146.5 mm tall, which is better but still too damn big. The iPhone Mini is 64.2 mm wide and 131.5 mm tall. That’s 1.5 cm less than the zenfone and almost 2.5 cm less than the Xperias, while still being almost half a centimeter less wide. Like, see the comparison of the Xperia 10v, the zenfone 10 and the iPhone 13 Mini:
