Based on the responses and trends observed since then, I don't think this is ever going to happen.
Tech savvy users for tech savvy products are gone. It is now a consumerism and popularity driven market, small phones simply don't have the bling factor to sell.
Even if this was not the case, logically, if you have only one mobile computing device, you would be better of getting a big one so you that you can do more with it. Read more e-mail, watch more content, play more games, take better pictures (bigger phones tend to have more space for more options).
And for us die hard small phone folks, well, all of us need a phone, right? And since all of our phones stop getting updates after a few years (iPhone notwithstanding), we will complain loudly about the lack of small phones... and then buy a big phone anyway.
The best we can hope for is for manufacturers to make a loss leading mini line. Like Sony, Samsung, and Google used to do.
Now that they do not, I own an iPhone 13 mini, and I hope to use it with battery replacements for at least 4 years.
I put my money where my mouth is for the longest time. My phone history: iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, Sony Z1 compact, Sony Z3 Compact, Sony Z5 Compact, Sony XZ1 Compact (good golly gosh what a fantastic phone that was), Pixel 3, iPhone 13 Mini. But our market is too small.
RIP small phones.
I own an iPhone 12 Mini, and if it ever breaks in the future I plan to buy the iPhone 13 Mini, even though by that time it will be on the brink of being obsolete. And if that also ever breaks I will buy another 13 Mini again if they still sell it. No matter what.