The problem with “niche” phones like small phones, phones with headphone jacks, phones with keyboards, etc is that most of the people who claim they want one end up not buying one because of such and such feature being missing or so and so phone being better.
Asus and Sony have been making smaller phones for years but they’ve never achieved any sort of success. Iirc Sony makes a small phone with a headphone jack, which should be flying off shelves if these types of threads are to be believed.
The excuse is always “well Asus and Sony” have relatively little retail presence. Sure, that’d true, but any startup niche phone seller would be doing very well to have an Asus or Sony level distribution and retail network in the first couple of generations. And that’s setting aside Apple being omnipresent in retail and yet still failing to sell enough small phones.
Not just a small phone, but an ergonomically shaped phone is missing from the market. It would be great to have devices again that you can cradle in your hand and slip into a small pocket. Thin slabs are nice on a display shelf, but they aren’t human-centered. Give me a phone with a curved and grippy back and a 5.x inch display.
I actually feel like the current trend to a more flat trim, like the current iPhones, Galaxies and (rumored) the Pixel 8 have is more ergonomic, since you actually have a solid edge to hold on to instead of something rounded that slips from your fingers
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