Has the iPhone become irrelevant? For the past 11 or so years, the iPhone has been one of the most popular products on the market. Apple’s profits have only increased annually as the new iPhone is released. The first generation of Apple products sparked a worldwide interest. In the first fiscal year of 2007, 1.4 million iPhones worldwide were sold. In 2018, Apple sold around 218 million phones. Over the course of 11 years, Apple has grown to one of the biggest companies in the world. The iPhone thrived even through the toughest financial times. 11.6 million iPhones were still sold during the 2008 financial crisis. However, in the most recent years, it seems that the iPhone is going downhill.
Every September, millions of people line up outside Apple stores worldwide, awaiting the new iPhone release. However, as time goes on, this may be changing. As each year passes, the price of the iPhone increases as the amount of updates decrease. The initial iPhones released in 2007 were priced at 499 dollars and 599 dollars for the 4GB and 8GB models.
The most recent iPhones released in September of 2018 were priced anywhere from 900 to about 1,500 dollars. These prices are way too unnecessary given the lack of large updates. The first few iPhones had room for upgrades and updates. However, now, there seems to be no room for improvement.
The consumers are not the only people that are getting affected. Apple CEO Tim Cook released a letter recently, to investors. In the letter, he warned investors that the company is expected to receive low sales for the holiday quarter. This is because of the low iPhone sales. This was an unfortunate piece of news for the investors.
Overnight, Apple’s stock fell nine percent. This pushed the company’s market value down below wealthy companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet. The iPhone still accounts for 60 percent of Apple’s total sales in the quarter of September. If the iPhone sales are dropping, that is terrible news for Apple. So far, Apple has not replaced the iPhone with a new product that will save the company.
Chris Caso, an analyst at Raymond James, accurately described the fate of Apple in future years in an investor note, “iPhone is simply too big to replace if that product line isn’t doing well. If the current iPhones aren’t selling well now, one must wonder what will happen if the next generation represents only minor upgrades.”