Apple’s Q2 earnings report just dropped, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag from the hardware perspective; iPhone sales numbers dropped 1 percent year-over-over, down to around 50.8 million units. That figure also failed to meet analyst expectations of 51.4 million for the quarter.
Tim Cook told CNBC that rumors may be partially to blame for the dip in numbers. Of course, speculation and leaks have always been a constant presence in the iPhone life cycle, though things do appear to have accelerated a bit in recent years. Rumors are coming particularly early for the anticipated 10th anniversary iPhone 8, due out later this year.
Numbers have also seen a hit in China, due in part to increasingly cutthroat competition from domestic competitors. Consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market may also be holding out for more substantial upgrades, which are expected to come with the iPhone 8.
“We are seeing a kind of delay in purchasing behavior that we think is a consequence of the number of rumors and reports about future products,” Cook told the site.
Still, the company’s in good spirits on that front, thanks in part to the fact that revenue for the category is actually up slightly (also by 1 percent), given the fact that the average selling price per phone has jumped, keeping Apple moving in the right direction in that column, at least. There’s also good news on the Mac front, as unit sales jumped to 4.2 million, a 4 percent increase in numbers and a 14 percent jump in revenue year-over-year.
Anyone who’s been watching the tablet space, meanwhile, likely won’t be too surprised to see that iPad sales numbers have dropped pretty considerably, by 13 percent year-over-year, while revenue is down 12 percent. Apple has clearly noted the stagnation on the tablet front as early adopters have been holding onto their systems a lot longer than the company initially anticipated.
The every-two-years upgrade cycle simply doesn’t apply to tablets the way it traditionally has to smartphones — nor do people wear out those devices as quickly. Back in March, the company issued a significant price drop for the iPad in hopes of convincing apprehensive buyers to take a plunge with an upgrade. The company is also hoping schools will give the space a boost moving forward with the addition of new education-focused applications and third-party hardware.
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