But, in the meantime, Apple is expected to release another iPhone before then this fall as it hopes to reverse the phone’s slowing sales.
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Apple has sold a billion iPhones since it unleashed the now-ubiquitous smartphone on the world nine years ago.
Apple says it sold the one billionth iPhone last week.
Chief executive Tim Cook made the announcement at a staff meeting at the company’s California headquarters.
But the smartphone’s importance appears to be slipping.
Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones in the latest quarter, a fall of 15 per cent from the June quarter previous year, but slightly better than analysts had feared. Apple reportedly posted a revenue of $42.4 billion and a net quarterly profit of about $7.8 billion, or $1.42 per share, for this quarter, compared to a revenue of $49.6 billion and a net quarterly profit of around $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per share, in the previous quarter fiscal year.
The tech giant’s guidance for the coming fourth quarter of 2016 includes revenue of about $45.5-47.5 billion and a gross margin that falls between 37.5 and 38%.
That’s not a revenue figure, but it is similarly indicative of Apple’s massive success.
Sales from those digital services grew 19 per cent over the past year and 33 per cent over the past two years to $5.9 billion, making them a bigger business now than Apple’s iPads or Mac computers.
At this point in the development of he consumer tech market, especially in terms of mobile devices, the greatest opportunities to wow buyers with innovation are more likely to lie on the software side rather than on the hardware end, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas told us today.
Apple has released other popular products – including the iPad and Apple Watch – but has yet to create one with the ubiquity of the iPhone. “Thank you to everyone at Apple for helping change the world every day”.
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Though sales were down overall, Apple said during its earnings report the launch of its 4-inch iPhone SE was “very successful” and noted “demand outstripped supply throughout the quarter”.
