iPhone sales fall for the first time, leading to revenue dip

For the first time ever, Apple has seen a year-on-year decline in quarterly iPhone sales.

The blow has been accompanied by a decline in revenues for the first time since 2003.

For the quarter ending March 26th, Apple sold 51.2m iPhones. That’s well down on the 10m sold in the same quarter a year earlier. iPad sales were also down, declining by 2.3m to 10.3m units.

All of which meant that Apple’s revenues fell from $58bn, as per Q2 2015, to $50.6bn. Profit was also down, from $13.5bn to $10.5bn.

Boss Tim Cook has said that the numbers were tough because of both strong macroeconomic headwinds” and the colossal success of the iPhone 6. Others, however, have questioned the appeal of the company’s recent handset upgrades. The press, however, interpreted the recent reveal of the iPhone 5 SE entirely differently.

Thw question now is whether the numbers are simply a blip or instead a sign that the iPhone, which faces unprecedented competiion, has reached its peak.