Apple Expects First Ever Decline of iPhone Sales Next Quarter

Apple has announced its first fiscal quarter 2016 results, these results cover the three month period up until the 26th of December 2015. These results compare to revenue of $74.6 billion and net income of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple was more focused in the positive news saying the Apple team delivered its biggest ever quarter, thanks to the innovative products and record sales of its iPhone, Apple TV and Apple Watch.

The second edition of the Apple Watch is expected to be revealed in September.

Apple, maker of the iconic iPhone, has been sharpening its focus on the the world’s largest democracy as it sees India “quickly becoming the fastest growing BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) country”. The decline will be realized if Apple sells less than 61.2 million iPhones this quarter.

It sold a record 74.8 million iPhones, but only fractionally higher than the 74.5 million in the same period previous year and the slowest growth since the iconic handsets were introduced in 2007.

The company reported sales of “other products” – including the smartwatch and Beats music products – was $4.35 billion (nearly Rs 29,379.9 crore) in the past quarter but did not break down those figures.

In a statement, Apple said it expected revenue to be between $50 and $53 billion between January and March, down from $58 billion in the first quarter of 2015. This could be a threat for many domestic and Chinese companies that recently entered the market with their offerings that are claimed to be competing against the iPhone.

You’d think that record-breaking profits would make most people happy, but the sheer size of Apple at this point means there’s increasing pressure on the company to not stall in terms of growth.

According to analysts, the record revenue is a result of growth in the company’s services, against the slowdown in sales of its devices. “$100 of Apple’s non-US dollar revenue in Q4 of 2014 translated to only $85 last quarter due to the weakening currencies”.

Daniel Ives, managing director at FBR Capital Markets, told ABC News that softness – that’s a saturation in smartphones on the market with fewer buyers – will be a challenge for Apple and its competitors.