I know a number of people, myself included, who have been waiting for the return of decent mid-range phones before getting a new one.
Right now, there are very few options for people who want a reasonably sized phone, offering reasonably good performance, at a reasonably low cost, with reasonably good durability, with reasonably long software support, from a reasonably trustworthy manufacturer.
If it wasn't for the price I'd recommend a folding flip phone. I've had a folding phone for 2 years and all I have had to change out is actually the screen protector every year. It doesn't like the flexing, but they are cheap and take 5m to swap
In my experience, it's only one very specific type of person who wants that. Usually male (phone goes in front pocket) and older (at least older than gen Z, rarely watches videos on mobile devices). Uses smartphones more as a utility/tool instead of as an entertainment device.
Which fits that apple actually released another phone with that form factor after the 13 mini: the iPhone SE 3 is also this small and it is more recent than the 3 mini. I just didn't list it because I dislike the large bezel and I think from a performance perspective, it's strict worse than the 13 mini.
But that phone fits the demographic, because those people also don't switch phones every 2 years.
Phone sizes nowadays make me furious. I bought a Pixel 6 one year ago, because "on paper" it looked similar to my Pixel 3a. Just 1mm here, 1mm there. But it actually feels way much bigger and heavier in reality. Impossible to conveniently use it with one hand. (Not possible to verify at shop how it would feel, because all shops have those large anti-theft thingies glued to the phones).
Effectively, the Pixel 6 became my "tablet" at home (or a "camera" when travelling), and I still use Pixel 3a as the default on-the-go phone.
We desperately need 3.5-4 inch phones. My iPhone SE with 4.7 inch screen is too big to use comfortably (I can’t reach the opposite corner with thumb and I am a male with average size hands) and I also have Unihertz Jelly 2 which is 3 inch screen, which is smaller than you’d want, but not unusable. Where is the middle ground? The first iPhones with 3.5-4 inch screen were if a PERFECT size! Why can’t we make nice things anymore?
Yup, originally had Nexus One, found out it couldn't be upgraded after a couple of years because of the decision to make the installation space so small. Upgraded to Nexus 4. Battery expanded like a blowfish after a year. Bought a Nexus 5. The Gorilla glass wasn't as durable as my clumsiness confirmed. In between the 4 and 5, bought a Nexus 7 (I think, it was a pad device), it's display stopped working almost 1 year to the day.
Back to the Nexus 5, after dropping the 5 accidentally and destroying it, upgraded to a mid-range LG phone. Wow. It was great. Still works like 5 or 6 years later though 2 years after buying it, LG announced they would exit the smart phone business. That was a blow.
The LG will works but is slow now so the only option left was a Samsung phone, mid-upper range. About a year later so far so good but I had to disable a thousand crap apps they install and revert a thousand more crap default settings. Worse than buying a new Windows PC which is why I use Ubuntu Linux on my PC.
As people go longer between upgrades, phones depreciate less, the phones become more durable and better supported; their price sensitivity ought to go down not up.
I also don’t see all that much reason to wait when you can always get an old model of phone. I also see tons of competition at the mid-range of the market anyhow.
Right now, there are very few options for people who want a reasonably sized phone, offering reasonably good performance, at a reasonably low cost, with reasonably good durability, with reasonably long software support, from a reasonably trustworthy manufacturer.