Despite reports of declining sales and, albeit mild, concerns about the future of the iPhone, Apple has announced it has sold one billion iPhones.
To put that into perspective, it took 27 years to sell one billion PCs, according to Gartner, and 131 years until there were one billion cars on the road.
Apple boss Tim Cook made the announcement during an employee meeting in Cupertino.
“iPhone has become one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in history,” said Cook. “It's become more than a constant companion. iPhone is truly an essential part of our daily life and enables much of what we do throughout the day.
“Last week we passed another major milestone when we sold the billionth iPhone. We never set out to make the most, but we’ve always set out to make the best products that make a difference. Thank you to everyone at Apple for helping change the world every day.”
This incredible feat comes in the wake of Apple's latest financial results which conversely revealed iPhone sales are slowing down, despite the recent launch of the iPhone SE.
Some 40.4 million iPhones were sold in the third quarter of 2016, a 15 per cent drop from the same period in 2015 when 47.5 million were sold. However, the drop is not as large as some industry experts had predicted.
“We are pleased to report third quarter results that reflect stronger customer demand and business performance than we anticipated at the start of the quarter,” said Cook.
“We had a very successful launch of iPhone SE and we’re thrilled by customers’ and developers’ response to software and services we previewed at WWDC in June.”
Apple sales in China – which account for almost a quarter of the company’s sales - fell by a massive 33 per cent.
Apple first reported slowing demand for its iPhone in the second quarter of 2016, the first time sales had dropped since the original iPhone launched in 2007.
According to figures from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners this may be because people are waiting longer before upgrading to a new iPhone.
Apple also saw a drop in iPad sales, selling 9,950 in the same period, compared to 10,931 during the same time frame in 2015, representing a smaller drop of 9 per cent.
The company is expected to unveil the iPhone 7 in September, which will run on the upcoming iOS 10. The next-generation iPhone could drop the 3.5mm headphone jack, if rumours are to be believed.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
