The iPhone is the world’s largest selling smartphone but Apple’s third quarter results that were released a few days back fell short of expectations. Usually, this quarter is one of the slower ones for Apple but results never fell short of expectations. There is nothing baffling about this as analysts have a possible answer as to what caused the downturn. In fact, Apple’s top management, CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer themselves said that the mounting speculation about the next iPhone, popularly being known as the iPhone 5 has caused the sales of the iPhone to slide.
This quarter, the number of iPhones sold was around 26 million as opposed to the 35 million that were sold in the previous quarter. It is possible that many people are putting off the purchase of the iPhone till the next version is released. Oppenheimer conceded that he is aware of the rumors surrounding the new iPhone and most analysts believe that the particular rumors about the larger screen and improved performance have convinced potential customers to wait until the iPhone 5 is released. Moreover, the possibility that there will be a new dock connector might have led to the decrease in sales as people wouldn’t want their iPhone to be incompatible with future accessories that are in all likelihood going to have the new dock connector.
In recent interviews, when both of the top executives were questioned about the future, they remained silent about Apple’s plans. Cook was particularly happy about the speculation because it meant that customers are eager for the new model. He refused to reveal any future plans while being non-committal about any speculation. Cook intends to ensure more secrecy while admitting that it wouldn’t help reduce the speculation, which is currently driving his sales down.
When questioned about the alleged smaller version of the Apple iPad, Cook remained silent and instead talked about the iPad 2 and its reduced price of $399. Moreover, he believes that the reduced price will increase sales of the iPad because according to him, customers are looking for an iPad and not just any tablet. Cook went on to say that he and the company are focused on innovating to the highest extent and developing the best products in the world.
