Why are iPhone sales continuing to fall?

Sales of Apple’s iPhones have continued to slump over the first three months of the year following a slow uptake of its latest smartphones, the XS, XS Max and XR.

Revenues from the tech giant’s smartphones fell by 17% to $31bn (£23.7bn) compared to the same period last year, marking the “steepest-ever” decline in iPhone sales, the BBC reports.

Apple’s total revenue of $58bn (£44.4bn) during the quarter also fell by 5% year-on-year, The Guardian reports.

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It’s not known how many iPhones were sold during the three-month period, as Apple stopped reporting sales figures for its smartphones last year, the newspaper adds.

“Apple’s iPhone business appeared to defy gravity as the company managed to sell more devices and gradually charge more for them,” says US news broadcaster CNN.

That, however, changed earlier this year when the company warned investors that iPhone sales were declining in China as a result of the trade dispute between the country and the US, the website says.

Apple faces stiff competition from the likes of Huawei and Xiaomi in China, which offer iPhone-rivalling products at a cheaper price.

Forbes also blamed increasing iPhone prices for lack of demand for the new XS, XS Max and XR phones in the West.

Is Apple running into trouble?

In a word, no. While the iPhone doesn’t appear to be the sales juggernaut it once was, the new revenue figures exceeded analysts’ expectations by around $500m (£382m), according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the company saw sales of its services rise by 16% to $11.5bn (£8.8bn), The Daily Telegraph reports. iPad sales, as well as accessories, were also up over the same period last year.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement: “Our March quarter results show the continued strength of our installed base of over 1.4 billion active devices, as we set an all-time record for Services, and the strong momentum of our wearables, home and accessories category.

“We delivered our strongest iPad growth in six years, and we are as excited as ever about our pipeline of innovative hardware, software and services,” he added.