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I'm making this distinction post-hoc, so I already know how it turned out: they ultimately decided to stop making those smaller devices. I assume that means it wasn't enough sales to be a financially viable product, and to me, selling "enough" would mean that Apple found it profitable to maintain the supply chains and assembly lines for those smaller devices and continued to invest in the product.

Arguing against myself, Apple could be discontinuing the smaller models because they did market research and found that most buyers of smaller, cheaper devices could be converted to buyers of larger, more expensive devices if those smaller devices didn't exist. Auto manufacturers are doing just that, discontinuing or enlarging smaller light trucks in favor of larger models that are subject to less regulation and therefore can be designed and manufactured more cheaply and might offer even more profit.

If Apple has or had that strategy, then my assumptions are flawed because no matter how many mini iPhones they sell, they would still want to get rid of the line as long as most of those customers could be converted to full-size iPhone customers.